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Science 19 July 1996:
Vol. 273. no. 5273, pp. 335 - 337
DOI: 10.1126/science.273.5273.335
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Reports

The Morphogenesis of Bands and Zonal Winds in the Atmospheres on the Giant Outer Planets

James Y-K. Cho and Lorenzo M. Polvani

The atmospheres of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune were modeled as shallow layers of turbulent fluid overlying a smooth, spherical interior. With only the observed values of radius, rotation rate, average wind velocity, and mean layer thickness as model parameters, bands and jets spontaneously emerged from random initial conditions. The number, width, and amplitude of the jets, as well as the dominance of anticyclonic vortices, are in good agreement with observations for all four planets.

Program in Applied Mathematics and Department of Applied Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.




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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)