Brief Communications
Nature 421, 36 (2 January 2003) | doi:10.1038/421036a
Outer planets: Origins of atmospheric zonal winds
Jun-Ichi Yano1, Olivier Talagrand2 and Pierre Drossart3
The origin of the strong zonal (east–west) jets at cloud-top level in the atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn1 is something of a mystery2, 3. Using an idealized two-dimensional, deep-turbulence model applied to a rapidly rotating planetary interior that is mixed by thermal convection, we are able to simulate the atmospheric multiple jets of these giant planets, and show that deep origins may explain one of their distinguishing features — the prograde (westerly) equatorial jets.
- Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique, École Polytechnique, F-91128 Palaiseau, France
- LMD, Ecole Normale Supèrieure, F-75231 Paris, France
- LESIA (CNRS-FRE2461), Observatoire de Paris, F-92125 Meudon, France
Correspondence to: Jun-Ichi Yano1 e-mail: Email: yano@cnrm.meteo.fr