Disruption of Saturn’s quasi-periodic equatorial oscillation by the great northern storm
The equatorial middle atmospheres of the Earth 1 , Jupiter 2 and Saturn 3,4 all exhibit a remarkably similar phenomenon-a vertical, cyclic pattern of alternating temperatures and zonal (east-west) wind regimes that propagate slowly downwards with a well-defined multi-year period. Earth's quasi-...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
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Nature Publishing Group
2017
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| _version_ | 1826262067607240704 |
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| author | Fletcher, L Guerlet, S Orton, G Cosentino, R Fouchet, T Irwin, P Li, L Flasar, F Gorius, N Morales-Juberías, R |
| author_facet | Fletcher, L Guerlet, S Orton, G Cosentino, R Fouchet, T Irwin, P Li, L Flasar, F Gorius, N Morales-Juberías, R |
| author_sort | Fletcher, L |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | The equatorial middle atmospheres of the Earth 1 , Jupiter 2 and Saturn 3,4 all exhibit a remarkably similar phenomenon-a vertical, cyclic pattern of alternating temperatures and zonal (east-west) wind regimes that propagate slowly downwards with a well-defined multi-year period. Earth's quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) (observed in the lower stratospheric winds with an average period of 28 months) is one of the most regular, repeatable cycles exhibited by our climate system 1,5,6 , and yet recent work has shown that this regularity can be disrupted by events occurring far away from the equatorial region, an example of a phenomenon known as atmospheric teleconnection 7,8 . Here, we reveal that Saturn's equatorial quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) (with an ~15-year period 3,9 ) can also be dramatically perturbed. An intense springtime storm erupted at Saturn's northern mid-latitudes in December 2010 10-12 , spawning a gigantic hot vortex in the stratosphere at 40° N that persisted for three years 13 . Far from the storm, the Cassini temperature measurements showed a dramatic ~10 K cooling in the 0.5-5 mbar range across the entire equatorial region, disrupting the regular QPO pattern and significantly altering the middle-atmospheric wind structure, suggesting an injection of westward momentum into the equatorial wind system from waves generated by the northern storm. Hence, as on Earth, meteorological activity at mid-latitudes can have a profound effect on the regular atmospheric cycles in Saturn's tropics, demonstrating that waves can provide horizontal teleconnections between the phenomena shaping the middle atmospheres of giant planets. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T19:30:32Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:1d4aa45e-57be-4d2d-99e5-030cdbaf5b2a |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T19:30:32Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Nature Publishing Group |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:1d4aa45e-57be-4d2d-99e5-030cdbaf5b2a2022-03-26T11:10:05ZDisruption of Saturn’s quasi-periodic equatorial oscillation by the great northern stormJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:1d4aa45e-57be-4d2d-99e5-030cdbaf5b2aSymplectic Elements at OxfordNature Publishing Group2017Fletcher, LGuerlet, SOrton, GCosentino, RFouchet, TIrwin, PLi, LFlasar, FGorius, NMorales-Juberías, RThe equatorial middle atmospheres of the Earth 1 , Jupiter 2 and Saturn 3,4 all exhibit a remarkably similar phenomenon-a vertical, cyclic pattern of alternating temperatures and zonal (east-west) wind regimes that propagate slowly downwards with a well-defined multi-year period. Earth's quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) (observed in the lower stratospheric winds with an average period of 28 months) is one of the most regular, repeatable cycles exhibited by our climate system 1,5,6 , and yet recent work has shown that this regularity can be disrupted by events occurring far away from the equatorial region, an example of a phenomenon known as atmospheric teleconnection 7,8 . Here, we reveal that Saturn's equatorial quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) (with an ~15-year period 3,9 ) can also be dramatically perturbed. An intense springtime storm erupted at Saturn's northern mid-latitudes in December 2010 10-12 , spawning a gigantic hot vortex in the stratosphere at 40° N that persisted for three years 13 . Far from the storm, the Cassini temperature measurements showed a dramatic ~10 K cooling in the 0.5-5 mbar range across the entire equatorial region, disrupting the regular QPO pattern and significantly altering the middle-atmospheric wind structure, suggesting an injection of westward momentum into the equatorial wind system from waves generated by the northern storm. Hence, as on Earth, meteorological activity at mid-latitudes can have a profound effect on the regular atmospheric cycles in Saturn's tropics, demonstrating that waves can provide horizontal teleconnections between the phenomena shaping the middle atmospheres of giant planets. |
| spellingShingle | Fletcher, L Guerlet, S Orton, G Cosentino, R Fouchet, T Irwin, P Li, L Flasar, F Gorius, N Morales-Juberías, R Disruption of Saturn’s quasi-periodic equatorial oscillation by the great northern storm |
| title | Disruption of Saturn’s quasi-periodic equatorial oscillation by the great northern storm |
| title_full | Disruption of Saturn’s quasi-periodic equatorial oscillation by the great northern storm |
| title_fullStr | Disruption of Saturn’s quasi-periodic equatorial oscillation by the great northern storm |
| title_full_unstemmed | Disruption of Saturn’s quasi-periodic equatorial oscillation by the great northern storm |
| title_short | Disruption of Saturn’s quasi-periodic equatorial oscillation by the great northern storm |
| title_sort | disruption of saturn s quasi periodic equatorial oscillation by the great northern storm |
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