Abstract

The processes that drive the giant planets’ banded zonal jets and their interactions with eddies over a wide range of scales have long been topics of interest in planetary science, as they help us to understand some of the most spectacular natural phenomena in the Solar System. I will present results from a general circulation model of Jupiter’s weather layer that represents latent heat and moist convective processes on a global scale. The model uses the MITgcm as the dynamical core, plus various physical processes relevant to Jupiter. I will examine jet spin-up in a dry atmosphere and how this is affected by an active water cycle that includes moist convection. Of particular interest is the model’s energy cycle, which will be compared against a recent analysis of Jupiter’s observed turbulence.