Giant Planet Atmospheres
Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus.
My research as a graduate student involved the study of visible and near-IR ground-based and HST images of Jupiter to discern information about the vertical distribution of clouds in the Jovian atmosphere. Since that time, I have focused more on Saturn IR spectroscopy, with similar scientific objectives. The December 2007 equinox of Uranus has also led to some interesting projects related to seasonal variations in that planet’s atmosphere.
Past/Present Students Working on Projects in This Area:
Dr. Takafumi Temma (NMSU Ph.D., now NRC Postdoc at JPL)
Jim Norwood (NMSU graduate student, 6th year)
Mike Sussman (NMSU graduate student, 5th year)
Paul Strycker (NMSU graduate student, 4th year)
Randy Carlson (USAF and NMSU graduate student, 2nd year)
Sean Lindsay (U. Tennessee Knoxville undergraduate, now 3rd yr NMSU graduate student)
Daniel Lofton (NMSU B.A., now at Harris Corporation)
Renee Simrell Cabot (NMSU B.S., now at Air Force Research Lab)
NIR images of Jupiter taken with APO/GRIM in 2000. Images are centered at 1.58 (left), 1.70 (middle), and 2.36 microns (right), and used to study vertical structure in the Jovian atmosphere.
AOTF images of Saturn, taken from Maui in 2002, revealing cloud structure at different altitudes in Saturn’s atmosphere.
Top: NIR image of Saturn taken with SpeX on the IRTF. Spectra were extracted from each numbered latitude bin to learn about spatial variations in Saturn’s atmosphere. Bottom: observations and model (dashed line) of Saturn’s five-micron spectrum.
