Shallow water simulations of Saturn's giant storms at different latitudes

Shallow water simulations are used to present a unified study of three major storms on Saturn (nicknamed as Great White Spots, GWS) at different latitudes, polar (1960), equatorial (1990), and mid-latitude (2010) (Sánchez-Lavega, 2004; Sánchez-Lavega et al., 2011). In our model, the three GWS are in...

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Autores: García Melendo, Enrique José|||0000-0002-3354-1140, Sanchez-Lavega, Agustin
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2017
País:España
Institución:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Repositorio:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/110515
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2117/110515
https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2016.10.006
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Saturn (Planet)
Atmosphere
Atmospheres
dynamics
Saturn
atmosphere
Saturn (Planeta)
Atmosfera
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Física
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spelling Shallow water simulations of Saturn's giant storms at different latitudesGarcía Melendo, Enrique José|||0000-0002-3354-1140Sanchez-Lavega, AgustinSaturn (Planet)AtmosphereAtmospheresdynamicsSaturnatmosphereSaturn (Planeta)AtmosferaÀrees temàtiques de la UPC::FísicaShallow water simulations are used to present a unified study of three major storms on Saturn (nicknamed as Great White Spots, GWS) at different latitudes, polar (1960), equatorial (1990), and mid-latitude (2010) (Sánchez-Lavega, 2004; Sánchez-Lavega et al., 2011). In our model, the three GWS are initiated by introducing a Gaussian function pulse at the latitude of the observed phenomena with controlled horizontal size and amplitude. This function represents the convective source that has been observed to trigger the storm. A growing disturbance forms when the pulse reacts to ambient winds, expanding zonally along the latitude band of the considered domain. We then compare the modeled potential vorticity with the cloud field, adjusting the model parameters to visually get the closest aspect between simulations and observations. Simulations of the 2010 GWS (planetographic latitude ~+40º, zonal velocity of the source ~-30 m s-1) indicate that the Coriolis forces and the wind profile structure shape the disturbance generating, as observed, a long region to the east of the convective source with a high speed peripheral anticyclonic circulation, and a long-lived anticyclonic compact vortex accompanied by strong zonal advection on the southern part of the storm forming a turbulent region. Simulations of the equatorial 1990 GWS (planetographic latitude +12º-+5º, zonal velocity of the source 365-400 m s-1) show a different behavior because of the intense eastward jet, meridional shear at the equatorial region, and low latitude dynamics. A round shaped source forms as observed, with the rapid growth of a Kelvin-Helmholtz instability on the north side of the source due to advection and to the strong meridional wind shear, whereas at the storm latitude the disturbance grows and propagates eastward. The storm nucleus is the manifestation of a Rossby wave, while the eastward propagating planetary-scale disturbance is a gravity-Rossby wave trapped around the equator. The simulated 1960 GWS disturbance (planetographic latitude +56º, zonal velocity 4 m s-1) formed a chain of periodic oval spots that mimic the few available observations of the phenomenon. For the mid and high latitude storms, simulations predict a strong injection of negative relative vorticity due to divergence of the upwelling storm material, which may produce large anticyclones on the anticyclonic side of the zonal profile, and a quick turbulent expansion on the background cyclonic regions. In general, simulations indicate that negative relative vorticity injected by storms determines the natural reaction to zonal winds at latitudes where Coriolis forces are dominant.Peer Reviewed20172017-04-0120172017-11-13journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501VoRhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85info:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/2117/110515https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2016.10.006reponame:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPCinstname:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)Inglésengopen accesshttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Spainhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/1105152026-05-27T15:37:01Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Shallow water simulations of Saturn's giant storms at different latitudes
title Shallow water simulations of Saturn's giant storms at different latitudes
spellingShingle Shallow water simulations of Saturn's giant storms at different latitudes
García Melendo, Enrique José|||0000-0002-3354-1140
Saturn (Planet)
Atmosphere
Atmospheres
dynamics
Saturn
atmosphere
Saturn (Planeta)
Atmosfera
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Física
title_short Shallow water simulations of Saturn's giant storms at different latitudes
title_full Shallow water simulations of Saturn's giant storms at different latitudes
title_fullStr Shallow water simulations of Saturn's giant storms at different latitudes
title_full_unstemmed Shallow water simulations of Saturn's giant storms at different latitudes
title_sort Shallow water simulations of Saturn's giant storms at different latitudes
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv García Melendo, Enrique José|||0000-0002-3354-1140
Sanchez-Lavega, Agustin
author García Melendo, Enrique José|||0000-0002-3354-1140
author_facet García Melendo, Enrique José|||0000-0002-3354-1140
Sanchez-Lavega, Agustin
author_role author
author2 Sanchez-Lavega, Agustin
author2_role author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Saturn (Planet)
Atmosphere
Atmospheres
dynamics
Saturn
atmosphere
Saturn (Planeta)
Atmosfera
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Física
topic Saturn (Planet)
Atmosphere
Atmospheres
dynamics
Saturn
atmosphere
Saturn (Planeta)
Atmosfera
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Física
description Shallow water simulations are used to present a unified study of three major storms on Saturn (nicknamed as Great White Spots, GWS) at different latitudes, polar (1960), equatorial (1990), and mid-latitude (2010) (Sánchez-Lavega, 2004; Sánchez-Lavega et al., 2011). In our model, the three GWS are initiated by introducing a Gaussian function pulse at the latitude of the observed phenomena with controlled horizontal size and amplitude. This function represents the convective source that has been observed to trigger the storm. A growing disturbance forms when the pulse reacts to ambient winds, expanding zonally along the latitude band of the considered domain. We then compare the modeled potential vorticity with the cloud field, adjusting the model parameters to visually get the closest aspect between simulations and observations. Simulations of the 2010 GWS (planetographic latitude ~+40º, zonal velocity of the source ~-30 m s-1) indicate that the Coriolis forces and the wind profile structure shape the disturbance generating, as observed, a long region to the east of the convective source with a high speed peripheral anticyclonic circulation, and a long-lived anticyclonic compact vortex accompanied by strong zonal advection on the southern part of the storm forming a turbulent region. Simulations of the equatorial 1990 GWS (planetographic latitude +12º-+5º, zonal velocity of the source 365-400 m s-1) show a different behavior because of the intense eastward jet, meridional shear at the equatorial region, and low latitude dynamics. A round shaped source forms as observed, with the rapid growth of a Kelvin-Helmholtz instability on the north side of the source due to advection and to the strong meridional wind shear, whereas at the storm latitude the disturbance grows and propagates eastward. The storm nucleus is the manifestation of a Rossby wave, while the eastward propagating planetary-scale disturbance is a gravity-Rossby wave trapped around the equator. The simulated 1960 GWS disturbance (planetographic latitude +56º, zonal velocity 4 m s-1) formed a chain of periodic oval spots that mimic the few available observations of the phenomenon. For the mid and high latitude storms, simulations predict a strong injection of negative relative vorticity due to divergence of the upwelling storm material, which may produce large anticyclones on the anticyclonic side of the zonal profile, and a quick turbulent expansion on the background cyclonic regions. In general, simulations indicate that negative relative vorticity injected by storms determines the natural reaction to zonal winds at latitudes where Coriolis forces are dominant.
publishDate 2017
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2017
2017-04-01
2017
2017-11-13
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv journal article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
VoR
http://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
dc.type.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://hdl.handle.net/2117/110515
https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2016.10.006
url https://hdl.handle.net/2117/110515
https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2016.10.006
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
eng
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
language eng
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Spain
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/
dc.rights.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Spain
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
instname:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
instname_str Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
reponame_str UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
collection UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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