Mechanisms of convective storm initiation on Jupiter and Saturn

In the atmospheres of giant planets such as Jupiter and Saturn, huge convective storms occasionally develop which can change the visual appearance of the planets’ entire bands. These storms occur when the atmosphere’s water vapor rises and cools, releasing energy and making less dense the ascending...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Ortuzar Andres, Asier
Tipo de recurso: tesis de maestría
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Universidad del País Vasco
Repositorio:Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigación
OAI Identifier:oai:addi.ehu.eus:10810/75437
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10810/75437
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:convective storm
moist convection
Jupiter and Saturn's atmospheres
Descripción
Sumario:In the atmospheres of giant planets such as Jupiter and Saturn, huge convective storms occasionally develop which can change the visual appearance of the planets’ entire bands. These storms occur when the atmosphere’s water vapor rises and cools, releasing energy and making less dense the ascending air. However, in the helium and hydrogen atmospheres, the moist air is denser than the dry air, making convection more difficult to initiate. As water vapor is located in the deep levels of the atmosphere tens of kilometers below the upper clouds, the details around the formation of the convective storms are unknown. This Master’s Thesis runs numerical simulations of Jupiter and Saturn convective storms using an existing numerical model developed in the Planetary Sciences Group at UPV/EHU. The specific objective of this work is to investigate alternatives to moist convective initialization beyond classical warm bubbles perturbations.