Global Climate Model of Jupiter's atmosphere: assessing the influence of auroral aerosol observed by Cassini and JWST on Jupiter's stratospheric circulation

Jupiter’s polar regions are characterized by intense auroral activity that drives ion-neutral chemistry. The production of high-altitude hydrocarbons through solar-UV photolysis and charged particle precipitation leads to the production of aerosols in the middle atmosphere by combination of the previously mentioned hydrocarbons into heavier hydrocarbons during downward diffusion [1].

These auroral aerosols are expected to modify the local radiative balance and may therefore influence the large-scale circulation of the Jupiter high atmosphere.

However, their dynamical impact on Jupiter’s middle atmosphere remains poorly constrained.

Here we investigate the influence of radiatively-active auroral aerosols observed by Cassini fly-by in 2000 and JWST in 2022 [2,3] on Jupiter’s stratospheric circulation using a Jupiter Global Climate Model [4,5]. The present study is a follow-up of the work presented in [6], focusing on the stratosphere, from the polar region to the equator.

We investigate the stratospheric dynamical response to the high-latitude heating of the auroral aerosol through the simulations with and without polar aerosol forcing in order to assess the atmospheric response to auroral heating due to haze.

We aim to study the change in temperature and stratospheric zonal wind regime, the eventual emergence of a polar vortex, its extension, and the meridional circulation regime from the low to high latitudes.

 

[1] Hue, V. et al, (2024). Space Science Reviews,  220:85

[2] Zhang, X. et al. (2013). Icarus, 226(1), 159–171

[3] Rodríguez-Ovalle, P. et al. (2024) Astronomy & Astrophysics, 691, A51

[4] Guerlet, S. et al. (2020). Icarus, 351, 113935

[5] Boissinot, A. et al. (2024), Astronomy & Astrophysics, 687, A274

[6] Guerlet, S. et al. (2025). EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2025 (Vol. 2025, EPSC-DPS2025-289).