Independent evolution of stratospheric temperatures in Jupiter's northern and southern auroral regions from 2014 to 2016

Journal article

We present retrievals of the vertical temperature profile of Jupiter's high latitudes from Infrared Telescope Facility-Texas Echelon Cross Echelle Spectrograph measurements acquired on 10–11 December 2014 and 30 April to 1 May 2016. Over this time range, 1 mbar temperature in Jupiter's northern and southern auroral regions exhibited independent evolution. The northern auroral hot spot exhibited negligible net change in temperature at 1 mbar and its longitudinal position remained fixed at 180°W (System III), whereas the southern auroral hot spot exhibited a net increase in temperature of 11.1 ± 5.2 K at 0.98 mbar and its longitudinal orientation moved west by approximately 30°. This southern auroral stratospheric temperature increase might be related to (1) near-contemporaneous brightening of the southern auroral ultraviolet/near-infrared H + 3 emission measured by the Juno spacecraft and (2) an increase in the solar dynamical pressure in the preceding 3 days. We therefore suggest that 1 mbar temperature in the southern auroral region might be modified by higher-energy charged particle precipitation.

Authors: Sinclair, J; Orton, G; Greathouse, T; Fletcher, L; Tao, C

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: American Geophysical Union
• Journal: Geophysical Research Letters
• Volume: 44
• Issue: 11
• Pages: 5345-5354
• Publication date: 2017-06-16
• Acceptance date: 2017-05-25
• DOI: 10.1002/2017GL073529
• EISSN: 1944-8007
• ISSN: 0094-8276
• Keywords: aurora; stratosphere; Juno