Research
My primary research involves the atmospheres of Jovian planets, specifically the vortices of Jupiter.
I work with Dr. Nancy Chanover on both analysis of spacecraft imagery and computational modeling of Jovian storms. Of particular interest to me are large storm systems, such as the Great Red Spot. I recently served as part of the team led by Amy Simon-Miller (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center) which collected Hubble Space Telescope imagery of Oval BA. This is a particularly interesting vortex, as it suddenly turned from white to red in early 2006. This is likely due to a strengthening of the storm after a large merger in 2000. This in turn probably resulted in a deeper convective storm base which dredged up the same chemical which causes its larger sibling, the Great Red Spot, to appear red.
While multiple spacecraft have returned high-resolution images of Jovian cyclones and other associated atmospheric phenomena, much of the underlying physics still remains unknown. Such questions include:
- What are the characteristics of the deep abyssal winds of Jupiter?
- What is the H2O content of the Jovian atmosphere, and how does it alter the lapse rate?
- Why is the vorticity of the Great Red Spot concentrated in a circumferential disk?
- What mechanism catalyzes storm merging and prevents anti-cyclonic vortices from interfering, and why only in certain cases?
- What is the source of the chromophore responsible for the reddening of larger storms?
My research had been supported in part by a grant from the New Mexico Space Grant
Consortium (NMSGC).
Meetings
October 2006: Division for Planetary Sciences meeting, Dynamical Analysis of the Reddening of Jovian Oval BA
M. Sussman, N. Chanover, A. A. Simon-Miller, & R. Morales-Juberias
Non-Research
Some collected webpages, including teaching notes for both ASTR105 and ASTR110, as well as various seminar talks I've given can be found here.
