Title
A comparative study of Jovian cyclonic features from a six-year (1994-2000) survey
Date Issued
01 December 2002
Access level
metadata only access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Institut de Mecanique Celeste
Publisher(s)
Academic Press Inc.
Abstract
This work presents a six-year study aimed at characterizing the morphology and properties of the atmospheric features present in jovian cyclonic regions. It complements our previous analysis for the same period on the anticyclonic vortices (Morales-Juberias et al. 2002, Icarus 157, 76-90). The main difference between cyclonic and anticyclonic regions in Jupiter is that a variety of organized morphologies are present in the cyclonic areas, although they can be grouped consistently into five different types: filamentary turbulence related to the highest speed jets, organized folded filamentary regions, elongated areas with contours closed by a ribbon-like feature, discrete, closed brown cyclones ("barges"), and peculiar transient structures such as short wave trains and cyclonic cells. We present data on their color contrast, size, aspect ratio, distribution, lifetimes, relation to the jet system and to the anticyclones, and motions (global and internal to the features). Most cyclonic features show a rapid evolution, compared to the anticyclones, and tend to be dispersed zonally although some survive for a few years. We used the barges that are the most representative, long-lived, and extended type of cyclonic features to show that there exists a linear relationship between their relative velocity and the mean zonal flow speed, similar to that found in our previous work on the anticyclones. There is also some evidence that the drift rate of barges is related to the planetary minus flow vorticity gradient. © 2002 Elsevier Science (USA).
Start page
325
End page
335
Volume
160
Issue
2
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Meteorología y ciencias atmosféricas
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-0036948732
Source
Icarus
ISSN of the container
00191035
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus