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Published May 19, 2006 | Published
Journal Article Open

Cassini imaging of Saturn: Southern hemisphere winds and vortices

Abstract

High-resolution images of Saturn's southern hemisphere acquired by the Cassini Imaging Science Subsystem between February and October 2004 are used to create maps of cloud morphology at several wavelengths, to derive zonal winds, and to characterize the distribution, frequency, size, morphology, color, behavior, and lifetime of vortices. Nonequatorial wind measurements display only minor differences from those collected since 1981 and reveal a strong, prograde flow near the pole. The region just southward of the velocity minimum at 40.7°S is especially active, containing numerous vortices, some generated in the proximity of convective storms. The two eastward jets nearest the pole display periodicity in their longitudinal structure, but no direct analogs to the northern hemisphere's polar hexagon or ribbon waves were observed. Characteristics of winds and vortices are compared with those of Saturn's northern hemisphere and Jupiter's atmosphere.

Additional Information

© 2006 American Geophysical Union. Received 24 August 2005; accepted 1 February 2006; published 19 May 2006. This research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with NASA. It was supported by the Cassini Project and Research and Technology Development funds at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. We gratefully acknowledge the Cassini operations teams at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for Operations.

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August 22, 2023
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