Deep winds beneath Saturn's upper clouds from a seasonal long-lived planetary-scale storm

Convective storms occur regularly in Saturn's atmosphere. Huge storms known as Great White Spots, which are ten times larger than the regular storms, are rarer and occur about once per Saturnian year (29.5 Earth years). Current models propose that the outbreak of a Great White Spot is due to moist convection induced by water. However, the generation of the global disturbance and its effect on Saturn's permanent winds have hitherto been unconstrained by data, because there was insufficient spatial resolution and temporal sampling to infer the dynamics of Saturn's weather layer (the layer in the troposphere where the cloud forms). Theoretically, it has been suggested that this phenomenon is seasonally controlled. Here we report observations of a storm at northern latitudes in the peak of a weak westward jet during the beginning of northern springtime, in accord with the seasonal cycle but earlier than expected. The storm head moved faster than the jet, was active during the two-month observation period, and triggered a planetary-scale disturbance that circled Saturn but did not significantly alter the ambient zonal winds. Numerical simulations of the phenomenon show that, as on Jupiter, Saturn's winds extend without decay deep down into the weather layer, at least to the water-cloud base at pressures of 10-12 bar, which is much deeper than solar radiation penetrates.     

Morphological differences between Saturn's ultraviolet aurorae and those of Earth and Jupiter

It has often been stated that Saturn's magnetosphere and aurorae are intermediate between those of Earth, where the dominant processes are solar wind driven, and those of Jupiter, where processes are driven by a large source of internal plasma. But this view is based on information about Saturn that is far inferior to what is now available. Here we report ultraviolet images of Saturn, which, when combined with simultaneous Cassini measurements of the solar wind and Saturn kilometric radio emission, demonstrate that its aurorae differ morphologically from those of both Earth and Jupiter. Saturn's auroral emissions vary slowly; some features appear in partial corotation whereas others are fixed to the solar wind direction; the auroral oval shifts quickly in latitude; and the aurora is often not centred on the magnetic pole nor closed on itself. In response to a large increase in solar wind dynamic pressure Saturn's aurora brightened dramatically, the brightest auroral emissions moved to higher latitudes, and the dawn side polar regions were filled with intense emissions. The brightening is reminiscent of terrestrial aurorae, but the other two variations are not. Rather than being intermediate between the Earth and Jupiter, Saturn's auroral emissions behave fundamentally differently from those at the other planets.     

河北省强对流天气统计分析

利用1999—2006年全省142个基本站的强对流观测资料（5~8月）和2.5°×2.5°分辨率,间隔6 h NCEP/NCAR全球客观分析资料,对河北省强对流天气的时空分布进行了详细统计,结果表明：雷暴、雷雨大风和冰雹空间分布呈北多南少、西多东少的趋势,时间主要集中在6月和7月,5月最少;午后到傍晚为各种强对流天气的日高峰期,冰雹和雷雨大风稍滞后于雷暴。     

An Earth-like correspondence between Saturn's auroral features and radio emission

Saturn is a source of intense kilometre-wavelength radio emissions that are believed to be associated with its polar aurorae, and which provide an important remote diagnostic of its magnetospheric activity. Previous observations implied that the radio emission originated in the polar regions, and indicated a strong correlation with solar wind dynamic pressure. The radio source also appeared to be fixed near local noon and at the latitude of the ultraviolet aurora. There have, however, been no observations relating the radio emissions to detailed auroral structures. Here we report measurements of the radio emissions, which, along with high-resolution images of Saturn's ultraviolet auroral emissions, suggest that although there are differences in the global morphology of the aurorae, Saturn's radio emissions exhibit an Earth-like correspondence between bright auroral features and the radio emissions. This demonstrates the universality of the mechanism that results in emissions near the electron cyclotron frequency narrowly beamed at large angles to the magnetic field.     

Modulation of Saturn's radio clock by solar wind speed

The internal rotation rates of the giant planets can be estimated by cloud motions, but such an approach is not very precise because absolute wind speeds are not known a priori and depend on latitude: periodicities in the radio emissions, thought to be tied to the internal planetary magnetic field, are used instead. Saturn, despite an apparently axisymmetric magnetic field, emits kilometre-wavelength (radio) photons from auroral sources. This emission is modulated at a period initially identified as 10 h 39 min 24 +/- 7 s, and this has been adopted as Saturn's rotation period. Subsequent observations, however, revealed that this period varies by +/-6 min on a timescale of several months to years. Here we report that the kilometric radiation period varies systematically by +/-1% with a characteristic timescale of 20-30 days. Here we show that these fluctuations are correlated with solar wind speed at Saturn, meaning that Saturn's radio clock is controlled, at least in part, by conditions external to the planet's magnetosphere. No correlation is found with the solar wind density, dynamic pressure or magnetic field; the solar wind speed therefore has a special function. We also show that the long-term fluctuations are simply an average of the short-term ones, and therefore the long-term variations are probably also driven by changes in the solar wind.     

A strong decrease in Saturn's equatorial jet at cloud level

The atmospheres of the giant planets Jupiter and Saturn have a puzzling system of zonal (east-west) winds alternating in latitude, with the broad and intense equatorial jets on Saturn having been observed previously to reach a velocity of about 470 m x s(-1) at cloud level. Globally, the location and intensity of Jupiter's jets are stable in time to within about ten per cent, but little is known about the stability of Saturn's jet system. The long-term behaviour of these winds is an important discriminator between models for giant-planet circulations. Here we report that Saturn's winds show a large drop in the velocity of the equatorial jet of about 200 m x s(-1) from 1996 to 2002. By contrast, the other measured jets (primarily in the southern hemisphere) appear stable when compared to the Voyager wind profile of 1980-81.     

孟湾风暴合成分析及其中尺度特征

 通过对影响中国低纬高原的8个孟湾风暴个例的综合分析,发现在不同强度不同位置的孟湾风暴和不同的环流背景影响下,低纬高原的降水具有明显的不同,其主要取决于孟湾风暴、副高和南支槽的位置和强度.在孟湾风暴影响中国低纬高原的强降水过程中,中尺度扰动起着非常重要的直接作用.     

Upper pycnocline turbulence in the northern South China Sea

The first regional mapping of the averaged turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate <εp> in the upper pycnocline of the northern South China Sea is presented and discussed.At φ=20°N and to the north of this latitude,<εp> appears to be more than two times larger than that to the south of 20°N.It is suggested that this asymmetry is associated with the predominant northwestward propagation and dissipation of the internal waves originated in the Luzon Strait area.An approximately linear relationship between <εp> and the available potential energy of the waves P IW,suggests a characteristic time of the P IW dissipation of about 6 h.     

A gigantic jet event observed over a thunderstorm in mainland China

Gigantic jet(GJ) is a type of large-scaled transient discharge which occurs above thunderstorms.It connects the thunderstorms and ionosphere directly.Compared with the other transient luminous events(TLEs),gigantic jet is very difficult to be seen from the ground.We report a GJ event that was clearly recorded in eastern China(storm center located at 35.6°N,119.8°E,near the Huanghai Sea) at 20:16:22(local time) on 12 August,2010.It is by far the furthest from the equator ground-based GJ recorded over summer thunderstorm.The top altitude of this GJ was estimated to be about 89 km.The GJ-producing storm was a multi-cell thunderstorm and the GJ event occurred in the storm developing stage,with the lowest cloud-top brightness temperature about 73°C and the maximum radar echo top around 17 km.Altitudes with reflectivity of 45 dBZ were estimated to reach 12-14 km.Different from results from other countries that positive CGs(Cloud-to-ground lightnings) dominated during a time period centered at GJ,our study shows that negative CGs dominated during a time period centered at the GJ event and during most of the storm lifetime in this study,indicating a diversity of the lightning activity in the GJ-producing storms.It is interesting that two different storms produced two types of TLEs,that is,the GJ-producing storm only produced one GJ event during its lifetime and five sprites were produced over another storm,different from the other study that sprites and GJs were usually produced by the same storm,enriched the knowledge of GJ-producing storms.In addition,the GJ event in this study is located beyond the effective coverage area(30°S-30°N) of the ISUAL instruments onboard the FORMOSAT II satellite,and results of this study could be useful for GJ studies in the future.     

Storm-time ionospheric disturbances monitored by GPS beacon measurements

The Total Electron Content (TEC) during three great storms, from April to August 2000, was collected by means of a GPS receiver located in Jingzhou (30.4° N, 112.2° E). The time-latitude-dependent features of ionospheric storms are identified using TEC difference images based on the deviations of TEC during storm relative to quiet time. The responses of ionospheric TEC to magnetic storms were analyzed. The results show that: 1) In middle and low latitude, ionospheric storms effects are more apparent in local day time than at night: 2) Ionospheric storm effects are more dominant near the hump of the equatorial anomaly region than in other regions of TEC measurements; 3) The positive effects during the main phase of ionospheric storm may be caused by electric fields in low latitude; 4) During the recovery period of ionospheric storm, the negative phase of storm may be due to the perturbation of the neutral gas composition. Foundation item: Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (49984001) Biography: Pei Xiao-hong (1977-), male, Master candidate, research direction: studying ionosphere on GPS beacons.     

Solar wind dynamic pressure and electric field as the main factors controlling Saturn's aurorae

The interaction of the solar wind with Earth's magnetosphere gives rise to the bright polar aurorae and to geomagnetic storms, but the relation between the solar wind and the dynamics of the outer planets' magnetospheres is poorly understood. Jupiter's magnetospheric dynamics and aurorae are dominated by processes internal to the jovian system, whereas Saturn's magnetosphere has generally been considered to have both internal and solar-wind-driven processes. This hypothesis, however, is tentative because of limited simultaneous solar wind and magnetospheric measurements. Here we report solar wind measurements, immediately upstream of Saturn, over a one-month period. When combined with simultaneous ultraviolet imaging we find that, unlike Jupiter, Saturn's aurorae respond strongly to solar wind conditions. But in contrast to Earth, the main controlling factor appears to be solar wind dynamic pressure and electric field, with the orientation of the interplanetary magnetic field playing a much more limited role. Saturn's magnetosphere is, therefore, strongly driven by the solar wind, but the solar wind conditions that drive it differ from those that drive the Earth's magnetosphere.     

土星盘面倾角的变化研究

根据地球、土星的平轨道根素和土星轴的指向,提出了一种计算土星盘面与地球观测者视线夹角的几何方法。计算表明土星的下一个秋分日为2025年5月22日,在2025年3月23日,地球将穿越土星盘面（土星侧对地球,盘面倾角为0°）。2017年10月16日（±1日）,土星盘的倾角达到最大,数值为26．99°。15年后的2032年5月11日（±1日）,土星盘的另一侧达到最大倾角,数值为-26．96°。土星轨道面相对于黄道面的倾角对计算结果的影响不超过±0．32°。     

我国总云量时空特征及其影响因素分析

目的分析中国总云量的时空分布特征、变化趋势及影响原因。方法利用全国360个地面站1951~2009年地面月总云量观测资料,采用线性倾向估计和相关分析方法。结果总云量最多区域位于西南和华南地区,最少位于北部干旱少雨地区。约35°N以北总云量从南到北随纬度增加带状分布减少,此纬度以南同纬度东部云量多于西部云量。20世纪90年代以及21世纪前10年总云量减少最明显。总云量减少最明显的区域位于东北、西藏西南部以及山东、安徽北部地区。大部分地区总云量与太阳黑子相对数、降水量、相对湿度、最大积雪深度之间存在显著正相关关系,蒸发量与总云量存在显著负相关关系。结论我国总云量总体上呈减少趋势,气候因素对总云量变化有重要影响。     

影响云南的孟加拉湾风暴TBB特征分析

统计19952010年东北方向登陆影响云南省的孟加拉湾风暴,根据降水强度及降水落区,将10个个例分为区域性降水、全省性降水来加以研究.对孟加拉湾区域(80～100E)云顶亮温资料(TBB)进行纬向平均,通过分析云顶亮温的纬向平均时间演变图,发现TBB低值中心位置、强度与云南省降水有一定对应关系,对于区域性降水,当-30 ℃TBB低值中心在20~22N附近,滇西及滇西北降水为大雨局部暴雨;对于全省性降水,当-40 ℃TBB低值中心位于14~18N附近,-40 ℃线的南北纬向宽度大于4,另外20~30N区域的纬向TBB平均值低于-10 ℃,云南省降水以大雨局部暴雨为主.另外对于全省性降水,在降水产生前12~24 h的纬向TBB平均时间演变图中,若低值中心北侧的-30 ℃线的纬度为XN,云南省的强降水区域位于(X+5)N以南地区.     

Origin of Saturn's rings and inner moons by mass removal from a lost Titan-sized satellite

The origin of Saturn's rings has not been adequately explained. The current rings are more than 90 to 95 per cent water ice, which implies that initially they were almost pure ice because they are continually polluted by rocky meteoroids. In contrast, a half-rock, half-ice mixture (similar to the composition of many of the satellites in the outer Solar System) would generally be expected. Previous ring origin theories invoke the collisional disruption of a small moon, or the tidal disruption of a comet during a close passage by Saturn. These models are improbable and/or struggle to account for basic properties of the rings, including their icy composition. Saturn has only one large satellite, Titan, whereas Jupiter has four large satellites; additional large satellites probably existed originally but were lost as they spiralled into Saturn. Here I report numerical simulations of the tidal removal of mass from a differentiated, Titan-sized satellite as it migrates inward towards Saturn. Planetary tidal forces preferentially strip material from the satellite's outer icy layers, while its rocky core remains intact and is lost to collision with the planet. The result is a pure ice ring much more massive than Saturn's current rings. As the ring evolves, its mass decreases and icy moons are spawned from its outer edge with estimated masses consistent with Saturn's ice-rich moons interior to and including Tethys.     

宁夏清水河下游晚更新世冰卷泥的发现及意义

在宁夏清水河下游(北纬37.4°,海拔1230m左右)晚更新世湖相地层中,发现了晚更新世晚期的冰卷泥,表明当时多年冻土的南界在宁夏一带可扩展到北纬37.4°附近,与现今相比,年均气温降低了8～9℃。青藏高原东北缘的弧形山地中,晚更新世强烈的构造抬升以及末次冰期的干冷气候最终导致清水河堰塞成湖并在湖泊边缘的沉积物中形成了冰卷泥。     

An equatorial oscillation in Saturn's middle atmosphere

The middle atmospheres of planets are driven by a combination of radiative heating and cooling, mean meridional motions, and vertically propagating waves (which originate in the deep troposphere). It is very difficult to model these effects and, therefore, observations are essential to advancing our understanding of atmospheres. The equatorial stratospheres of Earth and Jupiter oscillate quasi-periodically on timescales of about two and four years, respectively, driven by wave-induced momentum transport. On Venus and Titan, waves originating from surface-atmosphere interaction and inertial instability are thought to drive the atmosphere to rotate more rapidly than the surface (superrotation). However, the relevant wave modes have not yet been precisely identified. Here we report infrared observations showing that Saturn has an equatorial oscillation like those found on Earth and Jupiter, as well as a mid-latitude subsidence that may be associated with the equatorial motion. The latitudinal extent of Saturn's oscillation shows that it obeys the same basic physics as do those on Earth and Jupiter. Future highly resolved observations of the temperature profile together with modelling of these three different atmospheres will allow us determine the wave mode, the wavelength and the wave amplitude that lead to middle atmosphere oscillation.     

Saturn's moon Phoebe as a captured body from the outer Solar System

The orbital properties of Phoebe, one of Saturn's irregular moons, suggest that it was captured by the ringed planet's gravitational field rather than formed in situ. Phoebe's generally dark surface shows evidence of water ice, but otherwise the surface most closely resembles that of C-type asteroids and small outer Solar System bodies such as Chiron and Pholus that are thought to have originated in the Kuiper belt. A close fly-by of Phoebe by the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft on 11 June 2004 (19 days before the spacecraft entered orbit around Saturn) provided an opportunity to test the hypothesis that this moon did not form in situ during Saturn's formation, but is instead a product of the larger protoplanetary disk or 'solar nebula'. Here we derive the rock-to-ice ratio of Phoebe using its density combined with newly measured oxygen and carbon abundances in the solar photosphere. Phoebe's composition is close to that derived for other solar nebula bodies such as Triton and Pluto, but is very different from that of the regular satellites of Saturn, supporting Phoebe's origin as a captured body from the outer Solar System.     

A belt of moonlets in Saturn's A ring

The origin and evolution of planetary rings is one of the prominent unsolved problems of planetary sciences, with direct implications for planet-forming processes in pre-planetary disks. The recent detection of four propeller-shaped features in Saturn's A ring proved the presence of large boulder-sized moonlets in the rings. Their existence favours ring creation in a catastrophic disruption of an icy satellite rather than a co-genetic origin with Saturn, because bodies of this size are unlikely to have accreted inside the rings. Here we report the detection of eight new propeller features in an image sequence that covers the complete A ring, indicating embedded moonlets with radii between 30 m and 70 m. We show that the moonlets found are concentrated in a narrow 3,000-km-wide annulus 130,000 km from Saturn. Compared to the main population of ring particles (radius s < 10 m), such embedded moonlets have a short lifetime with respect to meteoroid impacts. Therefore, they are probably the remnants of a shattered ring-moon of Pan size or larger, locally contributing new material to the older ring. This supports the theory of catastrophic ring creation in a collisional cascade.     

波浪对台风风暴潮过程的影响分析

利用胡克林等建立的长江口及邻近海域的二维风暴潮数值计算模式,对2007-2008年有较大影响的4次台风风暴潮进行加波浪和不加波浪的后报计算.将计算结果与实测资料进行比较分析,得出结论:波浪对于风暴潮的影响程度取决于台风的路径、登陆地点和不同时刻.在台风登录前后一两天内,加波浪计算比不加波浪计算出的风暴潮水位精度总体要高;当台风传播到近岸时,波浪破碎对近岸增水影响较大,需要加波浪计算台风风暴潮;对南登陆北上转出型台风风暴潮计算时需加波浪,而对南登陆型可不必加波浪,以提高计算效率.