Polar vortex formation in giant planet atmospheres under moist convection
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Author(s)
Emanuel, Kerry Andrew
Flierl, Glenn Richard
O'Neill, Morgan E
Alternative Title
Polar vortex formation in giant-planet atmospheres due to moist convection
Date Issued
June 2015
Journal
Nature Geoscience
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
Citation
O’Neill, Morgan E, Kerry A. Emanuel, and Glenn R. Flierl. “Polar Vortex Formation in Giant-Planet Atmospheres Due to Moist Convection.” Nature Geosci 8, no. 7 (June 15, 2015): 523–526.
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
A strong cyclonic vortex has been observed on each of Saturn’s poles, coincident with a local maximum in observed tropospheric temperature. Neptune also exhibits a relatively warm, although much more transient, region on its south pole. Whether similar features exist on Jupiter will be resolved by the 2016 Juno mission. Energetic, small-scale storm-like features that originate from the water-cloud level or lower have been observed on each of the giant planets and attributed to moist convection, suggesting that these storms play a significant role in global heat transfer from the hot interior to space. Nevertheless, the creation and maintenance of Saturn’s polar vortices, and their presence or absence on the other giant planets, are not understood. Here we use simulations with a shallow-water model to show that storm generation, driven by moist convection, can create a strong polar cyclone throughout the depth of a planet’s troposphere. We find that the type of shallow polar flow that occurs on a giant planet can be described by the size ratio of small eddies to the planetary radius and the energy density of its atmosphere due to latent heating from moist convection. We suggest that the observed difference in these parameters between Saturn and Jupiter may preclude a Jovian polar cyclone.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Program in Atmospheres, Oceans, and Climate
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
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Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2459
