Why is the H3+ hot spot above Jupiter's Great Red Spot so hot?

Ray, L. C., Lorch, C. T. S., O'Donoghue, J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4218-1191, Yates, J. N., Badman, S. V., Smith, C. G. A. and Stallard, T. S. (2019) Why is the H3+ hot spot above Jupiter's Great Red Spot so hot? Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 377 (2154). 20180407. ISSN 1364-503X doi: 10.1098/rsta.2018.0407

Abstract/Summary

Recent observations of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot indicate that the thermosphere above the storm is hotter than its surroundings by more than 700 K. Possible suggested sources for this heating have thus far included atmospheric gravity waves and lightning-driven acoustic waves. Here, we propose that Joule heating, driven by Great Red Spot vorticity penetrating up into the lower stratosphere and coupling to the thermosphere, may contribute to the large observed temperatures. The strength of Joule heating will depend on the local inclination angle of the magnetic field and thus the observed emissions and inferred temperatures should vary with planetary longitude as the Great Red Spot tracks across the planet. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Advances in hydrogen molecular ions: H3+ , H5+ and beyond’.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-pure-test.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/120083
Identification Number/DOI	10.1098/rsta.2018.0407
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > Department of Meteorology Central Services
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