Major Planets and Icy Satellites
Break-out: Major Planets and Icy Satellites
Form completed by: Kevin Baines
Concept title (ID): Ammonia Strom Cloud Evolution on Jupiter and Saturn (35)
Description of the potential science / science goals:
Observations of birth and death of convective storm clouds including the turbulent wake of the Great
Red Spot and equatorial plumes on Jupiter, and periodic eruptive storms on Saturn.
Relevance of the science (Why is this important?) What are the specific Decadal ties?
Atmospheric dynamics, circulation, and meteorology: How Planets Work.
Decadal priority questions pg 19 # 7. How do the giant planets serve as laboratories to understand Earth,
the solar system, and extrasolar planetary systems? 9. Can understanding the roles of physics,
chemistry, geology, and dynamics in driving planetary atmospheres and climates lead to a better
understanding of climate change on Earth? 10. How have the myriad chemical and physical processes
that shaped the solar system operated, interacted, and evolved over time?
What measurements are required to achieve the science?
Hourly global maps continuously for 30 days obtained in~ 50 diagnostic wavelengths. Jupiter spans 45
arc sec. 0.05 arc-sec sampling desired: Thus 900 pixels across the planet desired. To obtain information
on particle size and single-scattering albedo, the vertical structure of clouds, and abundances of
materials upwelled from depth (e.g., water, phosphine, germane, CO) ~50 diagnostic wavelengths over
the range of 0.25 (or lower) to 5.2 um are desired. Salient wavelengths not possible from the ground
are 0.2-0.3 um which constrain the UV-absorbing properties of the aerosols and 2.7-3.0 um which
determine the ammonia ice content of clouds.
What are the driving requirements to achieve the measurements? (E.g. time on target, frequency of
observations, aperture, focal length, wavelengths, pointing precision and stability, specific observing location(s),
critical observation time(s), are repeat flights required? or whatever else that may drive the hardware or mission
design/architecture).
Telescope aperture:
Telescope focal length:
Wavelengths: 0.2-0.5 um, 0.8-1.0 um, 1.5 – 2.2um, 2.73-3.1 um, 4.0-4.2 um and 4.7-5.2um, all at .01um
spectral resolution
Pointing stability: 0.1 arc sec desired
Required time on target: Approx 30 days continuous at 1 hr minimum frequency.
Are there other ways to achieve this science, and if so, why would a balloon platform be preferable?
Allows for continuous observations for 30 days. Allows for 2.73-3.0 um observations of ammonia ice
and 0,2-0.3 um UV observations. Apart from spacecraft, no other platform allows these .
What are the potential observation targets? Jupiter and Saturn
What planetary science disciplines would this involve?
Planetary Atmospheres: Dynamics, Circulation, Meteorology, Chemistry/composition, cosmochemistry
Point of contact for follow-on questions (Name and contact info)
Kevin Baines (blueskies4321@yahoo.com)