Cassini ISS observation of Saturn’s String of Pearls

Sayanagi, Kunio M.; Dyudina, Ulyana A.; Ewald, S. P.; Muro, Gabriel; Ingersoll, Andrew P.

doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2013.10.032

Cited by 24 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Saturn's 2010 eruption may also have occurred near to the cyclonic vortices of the 'string of pearls.' (Sayanagi et al, 2014). Finally, moist convection has been previously observed within jovian cyclones by Voyager 2 (Smith et al, 1979;Thomson, 2015) 7 .…”

Section: Convection In Cyclonic Regionsmentioning

confidence: 79%

Moist convection and the 2010–2011 revival of Jupiter’s South Equatorial Belt

Fletcher

Orton

Rogers

et al. 2017

Icarus

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The transformation of Jupiter's South Equatorial Belt (SEB) from its faded, whitened state in 2009-2010(Fletcher et al., 2011b to its normal brown appearance is documented via comparisons of thermal-infrared (5-20 µm) and visible-light imaging between November 2010 and November 2011. The SEB revival consisted of convective eruptions triggered over ∼ 100 days, potentially powered by the latent heat released by the condensation of water. The plumes rise from the water cloud base and ultimately diverge and cool in the stably-stratified upper troposphere. Thermal-IR images from the Very Large Telescope (VLT) were acquired 2 days after the SEB disturbance was first detected as a small white spot by amateur observers on November 9th 2010. Subsequent images over several months revealed the cold, putatively anticyclonic and cloudy plume tops (area 2.5 × 10 6 km 2 ) surrounded by warm, cloud-free conditions at their peripheries due to subsidence. The latent heating was not directly detectable in the 5-20 µm range. The majority of the plumes erupted from a single source near 140 − 160 • W, coincident with the remnant cyclonic circulation of a brown barge that had formed during the fade. The warm remnant of the cyclone could still be observed in IRTF imaging 5 days before the November 9th eruption. Additional plumes erupted from the leading edge of the central disturbance immediately east of the source, which propagated slowly eastwards to encounter the Great Red Spot. The tropospheric plumes were sufficiently vigorous to excite stratospheric thermal waves over the SEB with a 20 − 30 • longitudinal wavelength and 5-6 K temperature contrasts at 5 mbar, showing a direct connection between moist convection and stratospheric wave activity. The subsidence and compressional heating of dry, unsaturated air warmed the troposphere (particularly to the northwest of the central branch of the revival) and removed the aerosols that had been responsible for the fade. Dark, cloud-free lanes west of the plumes were the first to show the colour change, and elongated due to the zonal windshear to form the characteristic 'S-shape' of the revival complex. The aerosol-free air was redistributed and mixed throughout the SEB by the zonal flow, following a westward-moving southern branch and an eastwardmoving northern branch that revived the brown colouration over ∼ 200 days. The transition from the cool conditions of the SEBZ during the fade to the revived SEB caused a 2-4 K rise in 500-mbar temperatures (leaving a particularly warm southern SEB) and a reduction of aerosol opacity by factors of 2-3. Newly-cleared gaps in the upper tropospheric aerosol layer appeared different in filters sensing the ∼ 700-mbar cloud deck and the 2-3 bar cloud deck, suggesting complex vertical structure in the downdrafts. The last stage of the revival was the re-establishment of normal convective activity northwest of the GRS in September 2011, ∼ 840 days after the last occurrence in June 2009. Moist convection may therefore play an important role in controlling th...

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Section: Convection In Cyclonic Regionsmentioning

confidence: 79%

Moist convection and the 2010–2011 revival of Jupiter’s South Equatorial Belt

Fletcher

Orton

Rogers

et al. 2017

Icarus

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“…We follow the standard image calibration and processing procedure previously used by Sayanagi et al (2013Sayanagi et al ( , 2014. We use the camera geometric model 101 and the photometric calibration software CISSCAL version 3.4 described by Porco et al respectively (Lindal et al, 1985).…”

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confidence: 99%

Cassini ISS observation of Saturn’s north polar vortex and comparison to the south polar vortex

Sayanagi

Blalock

Dyudina

et al. 2017

Icarus

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“…On Jupiter, a near 30 • N westward jet irregularly undulates in latitude and is timevariable in appearance, the features for which it was coined 'The Jovian Ribbon' [36]. On Saturn, the 34 • N westward jet becomes unstable and radiates trains of westward propagating cyclonic eddies sometimes referred to as the String of Pearls [37,38]. Many details of these phenomena are still unknown, either for the lack of data or understanding of physics, and our laboratory investigations are expected to provide new knowledge in both areas.…”

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confidence: 99%

Anisotropic macroturbulence and diffusion associated with a westward zonal jet: From laboratory to planetary atmospheres and oceans

et al. 2016

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Turbulence with inverse energy cascade and its transport properties are investigated experimentally in a flow associated with a westward propagating jet. Turbulence and the jet were produced by an electromagnetic force in a rotating tank filled with an electrolytic saline solution. The parabolic free surface emulated the topographic β effect which evoked the zonation. The spectral and transport flow characteristics were highly anisotropic. Turbulence is diagnosed by exploring the analogy between vertical and horizontal turbulent overturns in, respectively, stably stratified and quasigeostrophic flows which gives rise to a method of potential vorticity (PV) monotonizing. The anisotropization of transport properties of the flow is investigated using the finite scale Lyapunov exponent technique. After initial exponential particle separation, radial (meridional in geophysical and planetary applications) diffusion attains a short-ranged Richardson regime which transitions to the Taylor (scale-independent diffusivity) one. The azimuthal (zonal) diffusion exhibits a double-plateau structure which attains a superdiffusive regime on large scales. The transition to the Taylor regime for the radial diffusion takes place at a scale of turbulence anisotropization. The radial eddy diffusivity in both regimes as well as the transition scale are all determined by the rate of the inverse energy cascade, ε, that can be diagnosed by the PV monotonizing. Conversely, ε can be deduced from the scale of the Richardson-Taylor regime transition in the radial eddy diffusivity which, thus, provides an additional tool of diagnosing anisotropic macroturbulence with inverse energy cascade.

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Cassini ISS observation of Saturn’s String of Pearls

Cited by 24 publications

References 36 publications

Moist convection and the 2010–2011 revival of Jupiter’s South Equatorial Belt

Moist convection and the 2010–2011 revival of Jupiter’s South Equatorial Belt

Cassini ISS observation of Saturn’s north polar vortex and comparison to the south polar vortex

Anisotropic macroturbulence and diffusion associated with a westward zonal jet: From laboratory to planetary atmospheres and oceans

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