Temperature Sounding Experiments for the Jovian Planets

Abstract

The possibilities for vertical temperature sounding experiments by medium-resolution measurements of outgoing radiance are examined for non-scattering models of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. It is shown that for Jupiter the widest vertical coverage of the atmosphere results from five or six channels placed in the ?4 band of methane at 7.5 ?, but energy constraints render this experiment marginal at Saturn and useless at Uranus and Neptune. For the outermost planets, the best experiment is three or four channels located in the long-wavelength half of the pressure-induced S(O) line of hydrogen, in the range 25?40 ? with which a limited vertical range of about two scale heights can be covered. Some results of inversion of synthetic data are presented in each case, and the likely effect of clouds on the measurements is discussed.