Vertical structure of Jupiter's troposphere from nonlinear simulations of long-lived vortices

Numerical simulations of jovian vortices at tropical and temperate latitudes, under different atmospheric conditions, have been performed using the EPIC code [Dowling, T.E., Fisher, A.S., Gierasch, P.J., Harrington, J., LeBeau, R.P., Santori, C.M., 1998. Icarus 132, 221–238] to simulate the high-resolution observations of motions and of the lifetimes presented in a previous work [Legarreta, J., Sánchez-Lavega, A., 2005. Icarus 174, 178–191] and infer the vertical structure of Jupiter's troposphere. We first find that in order to reproduce the longevity and drift rate of the vortices, the Brunt–Väisälä frequency of the atmosphere in the upper troposphere (pressures P∼1P∼1 to 7 bar) should have a lower limit value of 5×10−3 s−15×10−3 s−1, increasing upward up to 1.25×10−2 s−11.25×10−2 s−1 at pressures P∼0.5 barP∼0.5 bar (latitudes between 15° and 45° in both hemispheres). Second, the vortices drift also depend on the vertical structure of the zonal wind speed in the same range of altitudes. Simulations of the slowly drifting Southern hemisphere vortices (GRS, White Ovals and anticyclones at 40° S) require a vertically-constant zonal-wind with depth, but Northern hemisphere vortices (cyclonic “barges” and anticyclones at 19, 41 and 45° N) require decreasing winds at a rate of ∼5 m s−1 per scale height. However vortices drifting at a high speed, close to or in the peak of East or West jets and in both hemispheres, require the wind speed slightly increasing with depth, as is the case for the anticyclones at 20° S and at 34° N. We deduce that the maximum absolute vertical shear of the zonal wind from P∼1 barP∼1 bar up to P∼7 barP∼7 bar in these jets is ∼15 m s−1 per scale height. Intense vortices with tangential velocity at their periphery ∼100 m s−1 tend to decay asymptotically to velocities ∼40 to 60 m s−1 with a characteristic time that depends on the vortex intensity and static stability of the atmosphere. The vortices adjust their tangential velocity to the averaged peak to peak velocity of the opposed eastward and westward jets at their boundary. We show through our simulations that large-scale and long-lived vortices whose maximum tangential velocity is ∼100 m s−1 can survive by absorbing smaller intense vortices.