EGU23-14801, updated on 09 Jan 2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-14801
EGU General Assembly 2023
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
The Role of Vortex Shielding on Polar Crystal Formation & Vortex Dynamics on Jupiter
- University of Exeter, Department of Mathematics, Exeter, United Kingdom of Great Britain – England, Scotland, Wales (ac1221@exeter.ac.uk)
The Juno mission in 2016 revealed that Jupiter’s polar regions contain a set of vortices cohabiting in tightly-packed crystal formations. These crystals were
noted for their remarkable stability, even withstanding the intrusion of a stray cyclone drifting into the arrangement. Wind and infrared measurements of these vortices give estimates of their radial extent and velocity profiles, indicating these vortices are surrounded by an annulus of opposing potential vorticity (pv), commonly referred to as a shield.
However, the underlying mechanisms that lead to the development and maintenance of vortex shielding on planetary vortices are generally poorly under-
stood. For example, the sensitivities of the shielding process to planetary parameters, such as deformation radius, are largely unexplored.
Recent work has shown that, in a shallow water framework, these shields are pertinent to the crystal stability. Particularly, recent modelling efforts have
placed strict bounds for this shielding in terms of magnitude. Although much work has been devoted to this topic, there are still significant questions remaining and large gaps in our understanding of these polar vortex crystals.
Here we present a preliminary exploration of the parameter space, using a quasi-geostrophic beta plane model to simulate the drift of Gaussian pv pulses
in Jupiter-like conditions. These initial results indicate that vortex shielding may have a strong dependence on the deformation radius and the background pv gradient, suggesting a strong dependence on latitude. These preliminary results will form the basis of our work modelling Jovian polar crystal formation
and vortex shield development in more detailed atmospheric settings.
noted for their remarkable stability, even withstanding the intrusion of a stray cyclone drifting into the arrangement. Wind and infrared measurements of these vortices give estimates of their radial extent and velocity profiles, indicating these vortices are surrounded by an annulus of opposing potential vorticity (pv), commonly referred to as a shield.
However, the underlying mechanisms that lead to the development and maintenance of vortex shielding on planetary vortices are generally poorly under-
stood. For example, the sensitivities of the shielding process to planetary parameters, such as deformation radius, are largely unexplored.
Recent work has shown that, in a shallow water framework, these shields are pertinent to the crystal stability. Particularly, recent modelling efforts have
placed strict bounds for this shielding in terms of magnitude. Although much work has been devoted to this topic, there are still significant questions remaining and large gaps in our understanding of these polar vortex crystals.
Here we present a preliminary exploration of the parameter space, using a quasi-geostrophic beta plane model to simulate the drift of Gaussian pv pulses
in Jupiter-like conditions. These initial results indicate that vortex shielding may have a strong dependence on the deformation radius and the background pv gradient, suggesting a strong dependence on latitude. These preliminary results will form the basis of our work modelling Jovian polar crystal formation
and vortex shield development in more detailed atmospheric settings.
How to cite: Carruthers, A., Thomson, S., and Seviour, W.: The Role of Vortex Shielding on Polar Crystal Formation & Vortex Dynamics on Jupiter, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-14801, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-14801, 2023.
