Abstract
The Earth's equatorial stratosphere shows oscillations in which the east–west winds reverse direction and the temperatures change cyclically with a period of about two years1,2. This phenomenon, called the quasi-biennial oscillation, also affects the dynamics of the mid- and high-latitude stratosphere and weather in the lower atmosphere2. Ground-based observations have suggested3,4,5 that similar temperature oscillations (with a 4–5-yr cycle) occur on Jupiter, but these data suffer from poor vertical resolution and Jupiter's stratospheric wind velocities have not yet been determined. Here we report maps of temperatures and winds with high spatial resolution, obtained from spacecraft measurements of infrared spectra of Jupiter's stratosphere. We find an intense, high-altitude equatorial jet with a speed of ∼140 m s-1, whose spatial structure resembles that of a quasi-quadrennial oscillation. Wave activity in the stratosphere also appears analogous to that occurring on Earth. A strong interaction between Jupiter and its plasma environment produces hot spots in its upper atmosphere and stratosphere near its poles6,7,8,9, and the temperature maps define the penetration of the hot spots into the stratosphere.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andrews, D. G., Holton, J. R. & Leovy, C. B. Middle Atmosphere Dynamics (Academic, New York, 1987)
Baldwin, M. P. et al. The Quasi-Biennial Oscillation. Rev. Geophys. 39, 179–229 (2001)
Orton, G. S. et al. Thermal maps of Jupiter: Spatial organization and time dependence of stratospheric temperatures, 1980 to 1990. Science 252, 537–542 (1991)
Leovy, C. B., Friedson, A. J. & Orton, G. S. The quasiquadrennial oscillation of Jupiter's equatorial stratosphere. Nature 354, 380–382 (1991)
Friedson, A. J. New observations and modeling of a QBO-like oscillation in Jupiter's stratosphere. Icarus 137, 34–55 (1999)
Caldwell, J., Tokunaga, A. T. & Gillett, F. C. Possible infrared aurorae on Jupiter. Icarus 44, 667–675 (1980)
Caldwell, J. J., Halthore, R., Orton, G. & Bergstralh, J. Infrared polar brightenings on Jupiter. 4. Spatial properties of methane emission. Icarus 74, 331–339 (1988)
Drossart, P. et al. Thermal profiles in the auroral regions of Jupiter. J. Geophys. Res. 98, 18803–18811 (1993)
Gladstone, G. R. et al. A pulsating auroral X-ray hot spot on Jupiter. Nature 415, 1000–1003 (2002)
Smith, B. A. et al. The Galilean satellites and Jupiter: Voyager 2 imaging science results. Science 206, 927–950 (1979)
Limaye, S. S. Jupiter: New estimates of the mean zonal flow at the cloud level. Icarus 65, 335–352 (1986)
Simon, A. A. The structure and temporal stability of Jupiter's zonal winds: A study of the north tropical region. Icarus 141, 29–39 (1999)
Porco, C. C. et al. Cassini imaging of Jupiter's atmosphere, satellites, and rings. Science 299, 1541–1547 (2003)
Holton, J. R. An Introduction to Dynamic Meteorology 3rd edn (Academic, New York, 1992)
Kunde, V. G. et al. Cassini infrared Fourier spectroscopic investigation. Proc. SPIE 2803, 162–177 (1996)
Gierasch, P. J., Conrath, B. J. & Magalhães, J. A. Zonal mean properties of Jupiter's upper troposphere from Voyager infrared observations. Icarus 67, 456–483 (1986)
Li, X. & Read, P. L. A mechanistic model of the quasi-quadrennial oscillation in Jupiter's stratosphere. Planet. Space Sci. 48, 637–669 (2000)
Magalhães, J. A. et al. Zonal motion and structure in Jupiter's upper troposphere from Voyager infrared and imaging observations. Icarus 89, 39–72 (1990)
Achterberg, R. K. & Flasar, F. M. Planetary-scale thermal waves in Saturn's upper troposphere. Icarus 119, 350–369 (1996)
Deming, D. et al. A search for p-mode oscillations of Jupiter: Serendipitous observations of nonacoustic thermal wave structure. Astrophys. J. 343, 456–467 (1989)
Deming, D. et al. Observations and analysis of longitudinal thermal waves on Jupiter. Icarus 126, 301–312 (1997)
Orton, G. S. et al. Spatial organization and time dependence of Jupiter's tropospheric temperatures 1980–1993. Science 265, 625–631 (1994)
Pallier, L. & Prangé, R. More about the structure of the high latitude Jovian aurorae. Planet. Space Sci. 49, 1159–1173 (2001)
Waite, J. H. et al. An auroral flare at Jupiter. Nature 410, 787–789 (2001)
Beebe, R. Jupiter (Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, 1994)
Seidelmann, P. K. et al. Report of the IAU/IAG working group on cartographic coordinates and rotational elements of the planets and satellites: 2000. Celest. Mech. Dynam. Astron. 82, 83–110 (2002)
Conrath, B. J., Gierasch, P. J. & Ustinov, E. A. Thermal structure and para hydrogen on the outer planets from Voyager IRIS measurements. Icarus 135, 501–517 (1998)
Riddle, A. C. & Warwick, J. W. Redefinition of System III longitude. Icarus 27, 457–459 (1976)
Acknowledgements
The contributions of T.F. to this work were made while he was at AOP, Oxford University. We thank M. H. Elliott, J. S. Tingley, F. Carroll and M. E. Segura for assistance with instrument commanding and data processing; P. J. Schinder for computing the pointing geometry files for the CIRS observations during the Jupiter swing-by; and D. L. Matson for suggestions.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing financial interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Flasar, F., Kunde, V., Achterberg, R. et al. An intense stratospheric jet on Jupiter. Nature 427, 132–135 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02142
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02142
This article is cited by
-
Evidence for auroral influence on Jupiter’s nitrogen and oxygen chemistry revealed by ALMA
Nature Astronomy (2023)
-
An intense narrow equatorial jet in Jupiter’s lower stratosphere observed by JWST
Nature Astronomy (2023)
-
Planetary Radio Interferometry and Doppler Experiment (PRIDE) of the JUICE Mission
Space Science Reviews (2023)
-
Jupiter Science Enabled by ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer
Space Science Reviews (2023)
-
Fluctuations in Jupiter’s equatorial stratospheric oscillation
Nature Astronomy (2020)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.