Measuring the Global Oscillations and Atmospheric Winds of Jupiter with the JIVE Project

Classical photometric and spectroscopic observations of the Solar System’s gas giant planets have provided limited constraints to their interior structure, composition, core mass, sub-surface rotation, etc. Such inferences are critical to resolving competing theories of giant-planet formation, which predict specific interior signatures such as the presence of a solid or diffuse core and abundances of certain elements. In the atmosphere, Jupiter’s weather pattern is a complex system with important phenomena occurring at different spatial and temporal scales, in which we lack continuous high-resolution observations to understand its atmospheric dynamics. The Jovian Interiors Velocimetry Experiment in New Mexico (JIVE in NM) uses a global network of instruments that provides nearly continuous Doppler-imaging data for Jupiter and Saturn and allows for new ways to study their interior and atmospheric properties. Observations yield measurements of Doppler shifts in visible solar absorption lines resulting from reflected light by clouds in Jupiter’s upper atmosphere to produce radial-velocity maps for two primary avenues of study: Jovian seismology and winds. For seismology, we calculate each 2-D map’s respective spherical harmonics coefficients and compute a power spectrum to measure oscillations from acoustic modes in the form of power excess within some expected frequency range. For wind velocities, we characterize zonal and meridional motions to calculate wind profiles across Jupiter. Our zonal 1-D wind analysis shows general agreement with cloud tracking measurements from the Hubble Space Telescope’s Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy (OPAL) observations of Jupiter. However, we also employ methods of Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) and Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) to produce 2-D wind fields and further investigate both small and large-scale dynamics. The implications from these results will allow us to directly probe the deep interior of Jupiter for the first time, leading to a fundamental breakthrough in our understanding of planetary formation and atmospheric dynamics.