ONE OF THE MOST PUZZLING OBSERVATIONS OF THE JOVIAN PLANETS TO DATE IS THAT THE THERMOSPHERES OF JUPITER SATURN URANUS AND NEPTUNE ARE ALL SEVERAL TIMES HOTTER THAN SOLAR HEATING ALONE CAN ACCOUNT FOR (E.G. YELLE AND MILLER 2004). WHILE RESISTIVE HEATING (OFTEN CALLED JOULE HEATING IN THE LITERATURE) AND HEATING BY ENERGETIC PARTICLE PRECIPITATION CAN EXPLAIN THE TEMPERATURES AT HIGH LATITUDES THEPARTICULAR MECHANISM(S) RESPONSIBLE FOR HEATING THE LOWER LATITUDES REMAINS UNCLEAR.RESISTIVE HEATING AT LOW LATITUDES ASSOCIATED WITH EQUATORIAL ELECTRODYNAMICS HAS RECEIVED RELATIVELY LITTLE ATTENTION BUT APPEARS TO BE A PROMISING SOLUTION TO THE "ENERGY CRISIS" ON SATURN. IT DIRECTLY HEATS THE ATMOSPHERE IN THE RIGHT RANGE OF ALTITUDES AND LATITUDES AND INITIAL ESTIMATES (PRESENTED IN THIS PROPOSAL) SUGGEST THAT IT COULD BE LARGE ENOUGH TO EXPLAIN THE OBSERVED HIGH TEMPERATURES.I PROPOSE TO CONDUCT THE FIRST SELF-CONSISTENT CALCULATIONS OF COUPLED CIRCULATION AND ELECTRODYNAMICS IN SATURN'S EQUATORIAL THERMOSPHERE TO INVESTIGATE WHETHER RESISTIVE HEATING AND/OR ION DRAG CAN EXPLAIN THE OBSERVED HIGH TEMPERATURES IN SATURN'S THERMOSPHERE. THE INVESTIGATION WILL BE BASED ON THE CALCULATION OF CURRENT DENSITY FROM A GENERALIZED OHM'S LAW THAT INCLUDES TENSORCONDUCTIVITIES. THE CALCULATIONS WILL BE COUPLED TO AN EXISTING GENERAL CIRCULATION MODEL (GCM) OF THE THERMOSPHERE AND IONOSPHERE OF SATURN. I WILL CHARACTERIZE THE RESISTIVE HEATING RATES DETERMINE THE EFFECT OF ION DRAG ON CIRCULATION AND ULTIMATELY DETERMINE THEIMPORTANCE OF RESISTIVE HEATING AND ION DRAG TO SATURN'S OBSERVED THERMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURES AT LOW-LATITUDES.THIS RESEARCH IS USEFUL TO NASA BECAUSE IT DIRECTLY ADDRESSES THE ENERGY CRISIS ONE OF THE "IMPORTANT QUESTIONS" NASA LISTS FOR THE STUDY OF GIANT PLANETS. THIS PROJECT WILL GUIDE FUTURE STUDIES AND WILL HAVE IMPLICATIONS FOR GIANT GAS PLANET ATMOSPHERIC THEORY INGENERAL.