Related papers: Jupiter's equatorial quasi-quadrennial oscillation…
Brown dwarfs and directly imaged giant planets exhibit significant evidence for active atmospheric circulation, which induces a large-scale patchiness in the cloud structure that evolves significantly over time, as evidenced by infrared…
Over the last eight years, a rich dataset of mid-infrared CH4 observations from the TEXES instrument at IRTF has been used to characterize the thermal evolution of Jupiter's stratosphere. These data were used to produce vertically-resolved…
The zonal flow in Jupiter's upper troposphere is organized into alternating retrograde and prograde jets, with a prograde (superrotating) jet at the equator. Existing models posit as the driver of the flow either differential radiative…
Since the 1950s, quasi-periodic oscillations have been studied in the terrestrial equatorial stratosphere. Other planets of the solar system present (or are expected to present) such oscillations, like the Jupiter Equatorial…
Observations of planets throughout our Solar System have revealed that the Earth is not alone in possessing natural, inter-annual atmospheric cycles. The equatorial middle atmospheres of the Earth, Jupiter and Saturn all exhibit a…
Jupiter's weather layer exhibits long-term and quasi-periodic cycles of meteorological activity that can completely change the appearance of its belts and zones. There are cycles with intervals from 4 to 9 years, dependent on the latitude,…
The increasing richness of exoplanet observations has motivated a variety of three-dimensional atmospheric circulation models of these planets. Under strongly irradiated conditions, models of tidally locked, short-period planets (both hot…
Three-dimensional numerical simulations show that large-scale latent heating resulting from condensation of water vapor can produce multiple zonal jets similar to those on the gas giants (Jupiter and Saturn) and ice giants (Uranus and…
The quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) of equatorial winds on Earth is the clearest example of the spontaneous emergence of a periodic phenomenon in geophysical fluids. In recent years, observations have revealed intriguing disruptions of…
The Composite InfraRed Spectrometer (CIRS) on board Cassini revealed an equatorial oscillation of stratospheric temperature, reminiscent of the Earth's Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO), as well as anomalously high temperatures under…
The Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO) is understood to result from wave-mean-flow interactions, but the reasons for its relative stability remain a subject of ongoing debate. In addition, consensus has yet to be reached regarding the…
The mean zonal flow observed on Jupiter consists of an intricate pattern of jets, or bands of zonal flow moving prograde or retrograde compared to the bulk planetary rotation. The strongest flow is a superrotating (prograde) jet near the…
Jupiter's atmosphere is dominated by multiple jet streams which are strongly tied to its 3D atmospheric circulation. Lacking a rigid bottom boundary, several models exist for how the meridional circulation extends into the planetary…
We present highlights from a large set of simulations of a hot Jupiter atmosphere, nominally based on HD 209458b, aimed at exploring both the evolution of the deep atmosphere, and the acceleration of the zonal flow or jet. We find the…
General circulation models of the atmosphere of hot Jupiters have shown the existence of a supersonic eastward equatorial jet. In this paper, we investigate the effects of compressibility on the atmospheric dynamics by solving the standard…
Zonal flows in rapidly-rotating celestial objects such as the Sun, gas or ice giants form in a variety of surface patterns and amplitudes. Whereas the differential rotation on the Sun, Jupiter and Saturn features a super-rotating equatorial…
A longstanding mystery about Jupiter has been the straightness and steadiness of its weather-layer jets, quite unlike terrestrial strong jets with their characteristic unsteadiness and long-wavelength meandering. The problem is addressed in…
The Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO) is the dominant mode of variability in the equatorial stratosphere. It is characterized by alternating descending easterly and westerly jets over a period of approximately 28 months. It has long been…
The giant planet atmospheres exhibit alternating prograde (eastward) and retrograde (westward) jets of different speeds and widths, with an equatorial jet that is prograde on Jupiter and Saturn and retrograde on Uranus and Neptune. The jets…
The Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO) of stratospheric winds is the most striking example of mean-flow generation and reversal by the non-linear interactions of internal waves. Previous studies have used an idealized monochromatic forcing to…