Jupiter Science Enabled by ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer

ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) will provide a detailed investigation of the Jovian system in the 2030s, combining a suite of state-of-the-art instruments with an orbital tour tailored to maximise observing opportunities. We review the Jupiter science enabled by the JUICE mission, building on the legacy of discoveries from the Galileo, Cassini, and Juno missions, alongside ground- and space-based observatories. We focus on remote sensing of the climate, meteorology, and chemistry of the atmosphere and auroras from the cloud-forming weather layer, through the upper troposphere, into the stratosphere and ionosphere. The Jupiter orbital tour provides a wealth of opportunities for atmospheric and auroral science: global perspectives with its near-equatorial and inclined phases, sampling all phase angles from dayside to nightside, and investigating phenomena evolving on timescales from minutes to months. The remote sensing payload spans far-UV spectroscopy (50-210 nm), visible imaging (340-1080 nm), visible/near-infrared spectroscopy (0.49-5.56 μm), and sub-millimetre sounding (near 530-625 GHz and 1067-1275 GHz). This is coupled to radio, stellar, and solar occultation opportunities to explore the atmosphere at high vertical resolution; and radio and plasma wave measurements of electric discharges in the Jovian atmosphere and auroras. Cross-disciplinary scientific investigations enable JUICE to explore coupling processes in giant planet atmospheres, to show how the atmosphere is connected to (i) the deep circulation and composition of the hydrogen-dominated interior; and (ii) to the currents and charged particle environments of the external magnetosphere. JUICE will provide a comprehensive characterisation of the atmosphere and auroras of this archetypal giant planet.

How Well Do We Understand the Belt/Zone Circulation of Giant Planet Atmospheres?

The atmospheres of the four giant planets of our Solar System share a common and well-observed characteristic: they each display patterns of planetary banding, with regions of different temperatures, composition, aerosol properties and dynamics separated by strong meridional and vertical gradients in the zonal (i.e., east-west) winds. Remote sensing observations, from both visiting spacecraft and Earth-based astronomical facilities, have revealed the significant variation in environmental conditions from one band to the next. On Jupiter, the reflective white bands of low temperatures, elevated aerosol opacities, and enhancements of quasi-conserved chemical tracers are referred to as 'zones.' Conversely, the darker bands of warmer temperatures, depleted aerosols, and reductions of chemical tracers are known as 'belts.' On Saturn, we define cyclonic belts and anticyclonic zones via their temperature and wind characteristics, although their relation to Saturn's albedo is not as clear as on Jupiter. On distant Uranus and Neptune, the exact relationships between the banded albedo contrasts and the environmental properties is a topic of active study. This review is an attempt to reconcile the observed properties of belts and zones with (i) the meridional overturning inferred from the convergence of eddy angular momentum into the eastward zonal jets at the cloud level on Jupiter and Saturn and the prevalence of moist convective activity in belts; and (ii) the opposing meridional motions inferred from the upper tropospheric temperature structure, which implies decay and dissipation of the zonal jets with altitude above the clouds. These two scenarios suggest meridional circulations in opposing directions, the former suggesting upwelling in belts, the latter suggesting upwelling in zones. Numerical simulations successfully reproduce the former, whereas there is a wealth of observational evidence in support of the latter. This presents an unresolved paradox for our current understanding of the banded structure of giant planet atmospheres, that could be addressed via a multi-tiered vertical structure of "stacked circulation cells," with a natural transition from zonal jet pumping to dissipation as we move from the convectively-unstable mid-troposphere into the stably-stratified upper troposphere.

Jupiter's atmospheric jet streams extend thousands of kilometres deep

The depth to which Jupiter's observed east-west jet streams extend has been a long-standing question. Resolving this puzzle has been a primary goal for the Juno spacecraft, which has been in orbit around the gas giant since July 2016. Juno's gravitational measurements have revealed that Jupiter's gravitational field is north-south asymmetric, which is a signature of the planet's atmospheric and interior flows. Here we report that the measured odd gravitational harmonics J₃, J₅, J₇ and J₉ indicate that the observed jet streams, as they appear at the cloud level, extend down to depths of thousands of kilometres beneath the cloud level, probably to the region of magnetic dissipation at a depth of about 3,000  kilometres. By inverting the measured gravity values into a wind field, we calculate the most likely vertical profile of the deep atmospheric and interior flow, and the latitudinal dependence of its depth. Furthermore, the even gravity harmonics J₈ and J₁₀ resulting from this flow profile also match the measurements, when taking into account the contribution of the interior structure. These results indicate that the mass of the dynamical atmosphere is about one per cent of Jupiter's total mass.

Computer simulations of Jupiter's deep internal dynamics help interpret what Juno sees

We describe computer simulations of thermal convection and magnetic field generation in Jupiter's deep interior: that is, its convective dynamo. Results from three different simulations highlight the importance of including the dynamics in the very deep interior, although much of the convection and field generation seems to be confined to the upper part of the interior. A long-debated question is to what depth do Jupiter's zonal winds extend below its surface. Our simulations suggest that, if global latitudinally banded patterns in Jupiter's near-surface magnetic and gravity fields were detected by Juno, NASA's orbiting spacecraft at Jupiter [Bolton S, et al. (2017) Science 356:821-825], they would provide evidence for Jupiter's zonal winds extending deep below the surface. One of our simulations has also maintained, for a couple simulated years, a deep axisymmetric inertial wave, with properties at the surface that depend on the size of the model's small rocky core. If such a wave was detected on Jupiter's surface, its latitudes and oscillation frequency would provide evidence for the existence and size of Jupiter's rocky core.

Strong temporal variation over one Saturnian year: from Voyager to Cassini

Here we report the combined spacecraft observations of Saturn acquired over one Saturnian year (~29.5 Earth years), from the Voyager encounters (1980-81) to the new Cassini reconnaissance (2009-10). The combined observations reveal a strong temporal increase of tropic temperature (~10 Kelvins) around the tropopause of Saturn (i.e., 50 mbar), which is stronger than the seasonal variability (~a few Kelvins). We also provide the first estimate of the zonal winds at 750 mbar, which is close to the zonal winds at 2000 mbar. The quasi-consistency of zonal winds between these two levels provides observational support to a numerical suggestion inferring that the zonal winds at pressures greater than 500 mbar do not vary significantly with depth. Furthermore, the temporal variation of zonal winds decreases its magnitude with depth, implying that the relatively deep zonal winds are stable with time.

Antisymmetric polar modes of thermal convection in rotating spherical fluid shells at high taylor numbers

The onset of thermal convection in a rotating spherical shell of intermediate radius ratio eta=0.4 is studied numerically for Taylor numbers Ta > or = 10(11) and the Prandtl number of the liquid sodium (sigma=0.01). For the first time, it is shown that at very high Taylor numbers the first unstable mode can be antisymmetric with respect to the equator and confined inside a cylinder tangent to the inner sphere at the equator (polar mode). The exponent of the power law determined from the asymptotic dependence of the critical Rayleigh number for very high Ta is 0.57, lower than 2/3, given theoretically for the spiraling columnar modes, and than 0.63, found numerically for the outer equatorially attached modes.

Depth of a strong jovian jet from a planetary-scale disturbance driven by storms

The atmospheres of the gas giant planets (Jupiter and Saturn) contain jets that dominate the circulation at visible levels. The power source for these jets (solar radiation, internal heat, or both) and their vertical structure below the upper cloud are major open questions in the atmospheric circulation and meteorology of giant planets. Several observations and in situ measurements found intense winds at a depth of 24 bar, and have been interpreted as supporting an internal heat source. This issue remains controversial, in part because of effects from the local meteorology. Here we report observations and modelling of two plumes in Jupiter's atmosphere that erupted at the same latitude as the strongest jet (23 degrees N). The plumes reached a height of 30 km above the surrounding clouds, moved faster than any other feature (169 m s(-1)), and left in their wake a turbulent planetary-scale disturbance containing red aerosols. On the basis of dynamical modelling, we conclude that the data are consistent only with a wind that extends well below the level where solar radiation is deposited.

Simulation of equatorial and high-latitude jets on Jupiter in a deep convection model

The bands of Jupiter represent a global system of powerful winds. Broad eastward equatorial jets are flanked by smaller-scale, higher-latitude jets flowing in alternating directions. Jupiter's large thermal emission suggests that the winds are powered from within, but the zonal flow depth is limited by increasing density and electrical conductivity in the molecular hydrogen-helium atmosphere towards the centre of the planet. Two types of planetary flow models have been explored: shallow-layer models reproduce multiple high-latitude jets, but not the equatorial flow system, and deep convection models only reproduce an eastward equatorial jet with two flanking neighbours. Here we present a numerical model of three-dimensional rotating convection in a relatively thin spherical shell that generates both types of jets. The simulated flow is turbulent and quasi-two-dimensional and, as observed for the jovian jets, simulated jet widths follow Rhines' scaling theory. Our findings imply that Jupiter's latitudinal transition in jet width corresponds to a separation between the bottom-bounded flow structures in higher latitudes and the deep equatorial flows.