Dyudina Ulyana A, Ingersoll Andrew P, Ewald Shawn P, Vasavada Ashwin R, West Robert A, Del Genio Anthony D, Barbara John M, Porco Carolyn C, Achterberg Richard K, Flasar F Michael, Simon-Miller Amy A, Fletcher Leigh N
Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
Science. 2008 Mar 28;319(5871):1801. doi: 10.1126/science.1153633.
The camera onboard the Cassini spacecraft has allowed us to observe many of Saturn's cloud features. We present observations of Saturn's south polar vortex (SPV) showing that it shares some properties with terrestrial hurricanes: cyclonic circulation, warm central region (the eye) surrounded by a ring of high clouds (the eye wall), and convective clouds outside the eye. The polar location and the absence of an ocean are major differences. It also shares properties with the polar vortices on Venus, such as polar location, cyclonic circulation, warm center, and long lifetime, but the Venus vortices have cold collars and are not associated with convective clouds. The SPV's combination of properties is unique among vortices in the solar system.
卡西尼号航天器上的相机使我们能够观测到土星的许多云层特征。我们展示了对土星南极涡旋（SPV）的观测结果，表明它与地球飓风有一些共同特性：气旋环流、被高云环（眼壁）包围的温暖中心区域（眼）以及眼外的对流云。极地位置和没有海洋是主要差异。它也与金星上的极地涡旋有共同特性，如极地位置、气旋环流、温暖中心和长寿命，但金星的涡旋有冷环且与对流云无关。SPV的特性组合在太阳系的涡旋中是独一无二的。
