Revealing the Intensity of Turbulent Energy Transfer in Planetary Atmospheres. Issue 23 (8th December 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Cabanes, Simon; Espa, Stefania; Galperin, Boris; Young, Roland M. B.; Read, Peter L.
• Is Part Of: Geophysical research letters. Volume 47:Issue 23(2020)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2020-12-08
• Subjects: planetary turbulence -- atmospheric turbulence -- zonostrophic regime -- potential vorticity; Geophysics -- Periodicals; Planets -- Periodicals; Lunar geology -- Periodicals; 550
• DOI: 10.1029/2020GL088685
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0094-8276

Abstract

Abstract: Images of the giant planets Jupiter and Saturn show highly turbulent storms and swirling clouds that reflect the intensity of turbulence in their atmospheres. Quantifying planetary turbulence is inaccessible to conventional tools, however, since they require large quantities of spatially and temporally resolved data. Here we show, using experiments, observations, and simulations, that potential vorticity (PV) is a straightforward and universal diagnostic that can be used to estimate turbulent energy transfer in a stably stratified atmosphere. We use the conservation of PV to define a length scale, L M, representing a typical distance over which PV is mixed by planetary turbulence. L M increases as the turbulent intensity increases and can be estimated from any latitudinal PV profile. Using this principle, we estimate L M within Jupiter's and Saturn's tropospheres, showing for the first time that turbulent energy transfer in Saturn's atmosphere is four times less intense than Jupiter's. Key Points: We present a new and universal diagnostic to reveal the intensity of turbulent energy transfer in planetary atmospheres We show that turbulent energy transfer in Saturn's atmosphere is 4 times less intense than Jupiter's