Global simulation of the Jovian atmospheric motion toward assimilation of remote sensing data set Original Research Article

The ground telescopic observations of the planets may be considered as the oldest and longest remote sensing record. The quantitative analyses of these photographic planetary observations recently became possible by the digitalization of the data. The present paper reports an attempt of a global simulation of the Jovian atmospheric motion by using a global digitalized mosaic picture. The mosaics were constructed from the images taken at Pic du Midi Observatory. As a heuristic hypothesis, it was assumed that the pixel brightness contours have a one-to-one correspondence to the geopotential height contours. The simulations were performed with a global shallow water model by using this initialization technique. The sensitivity of the simulations to the equivalent depth of the model atmosphere was tested. The optimal equivalent depth was found to be about 1.5 km. The eddy evolution was too dispersive with larger values, and involved too much steepening with lower values. The latitudinal propagation of planetary waves crossing the equator were found to be important in controlling the evolution of the equatorial plumes and hot spots.