Vertically Resolved Temperatures and Methane Densities in Jovian Middle and Upper Atmospheres

Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio TX

Investigators

Abstract

AST-0098722 Young Temperature profiles of Jupiter's atmosphere are important for understanding the energy balance, interpreting reflectance spectra or thermal emission, and studying dynamics. In all of these parameters, the temperature gradients are nearly as important as the temperatures themselves, and vertically-resolved measurements of temperature are needed. Similarly the methane distribution is central for understanding the chemistry and radiative balance. Dr. Leslie Young, at the Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO, will utilize the occultation observing technique to measure the vertical profiles of temperature and methane density. She will prepare a catalog of ultraviolet bright stars that will be occulted by giant planets, and can be observed from Earth orbiting telescopes, and she will obtain spectrally-resolved observations of Io's hotspot occultations by Jupiter, measuring stratospheric temperatures and methane abundance. The occultations of Io's hotspots by Jupiter will be observed using the SpeX spectrometer at the Infrared Telescope Facility on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. The resulting light curves will be used to derive temperatures and methane densities in Jupiter's lower stratosphere, at pressures, latitudes, and vertical resolutions needed to detect and quantify the predicted thermal structure. ***