固体物理和空间物理学术报告通知2017-11-02 孔大力博士

The equatorially antisymmetric gravitational field of Jupiter is nearly unaffected by its rotational distortion and, hence, it provides a direct window into the antisymmetric fluid motion taking place in Jupiter's interior. We derive, using the high-precision antisymmetric gravitational data acquired by the Juno spacecraft and the thermal-gravitational wind equation in spherical geometry (a two-dimensional kernel integral equation with the Green's function in its integrand), the location/structure/amplitude of the equatorially antisymmetric zonal flow of Jupiter without making any prior assumptions about these features. We show that the equatorially antisymmetric zonal flow is primarily confined in the outer envelope approximately in 0.8R < r < R, where R is Jupiter's radius, has a typical speed about 5m/s, and alternates in the prograde and retrograde direction. The antisymmetric zonal flow most likely derives from instabilities in the symmetric flow. Therefore the symmetric zonal flow observed at the surface must extend downward into the region where the antisymmetric winds are generated. Our results suggest that the Jovian convective dynamo is operating in the region approximately r < 0.8R where the electrical conductivity is believed to be sufficiently high. The location/structure/amplitude of the equatorially antisymmetric zonal flow in Jupiter's interior derived from the Jovian equatorially antisymmetric gravitational field may answer the long-standing scientific question about the dynamics/depth of the cloud-level zonal flow on Jupiter.