Gierasch PJ, Ingersoll AP, Banfield D, Ewald SP, Helfenstein P, Simon-Miller A, Vasavada A, Breneman HH, Senske DA
Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.
Nature. 2000 Feb 10;403(6770):628-30. doi: 10.1038/35001017.
The energy source driving Jupiter's active meteorology is not understood. There are two main candidates: a poorly understood internal heat source and sunlight. Here we report observations of an active storm system possessing both lightning and condensation of water. The storm has a vertical extent of at least 50 km and a length of about 4,000 km. Previous observations of lightning on Jupiter have revealed both its frequency of occurrence and its spatial distribution, but they did not permit analysis of the detailed cloud structure and its dynamics. The present observations reveal the storm (on the day side of the planet) at the same location and within just a few hours of a lightning detection (on the night side). We estimate that the total vertical transport of heat by storms like the one observed here is of the same order as the planet's internal heat source. We therefore conclude that moist convection-similar to large clusters of thunderstorm cells on the Earth-is a dominant factor in converting heat flow into kinetic energy in the jovian atmosphere.
驱动木星活跃气象活动的能量来源尚不清楚。主要有两个候选因素：一个是了解甚少的内部热源，另一个是阳光。在此我们报告对一个兼具闪电和水凝结现象的活跃风暴系统的观测结果。该风暴的垂直范围至少达50千米，长度约为4000千米。此前对木星闪电的观测揭示了其发生频率和空间分布，但无法对详细的云结构及其动力学进行分析。目前的观测在（该行星的）昼侧发现了这场风暴，且是在（夜侧）检测到闪电后的短短几小时内。我们估计，像此处观测到的这种风暴的总垂直热传输量与该行星的内部热源处于同一量级。因此我们得出结论，类似于地球上大片雷暴云团的湿对流，是木星大气中将热流转化为动能的一个主导因素。
