Oxygen Isotopes and Sampling of the Solar System

The atmospheres of the four giant planets of our Solar System share a common and well-observed characteristic: they each display patterns of planetary banding, with regions of different temperatures, composition, aerosol properties and dynamics separated by strong meridional and vertical gradients in the zonal (i.e., east-west) winds. Remote sensing observations, from both visiting spacecraft and Earth-based astronomical facilities, have revealed the significant variation in environmental conditions from one band to the next. On Jupiter, the reflective white bands of low temperatures, elevated aerosol opacities, and enhancements of quasi-conserved chemical tracers are referred to as ‘zones.’ Conversely, the darker bands of warmer temperatures, depleted aerosols, and reductions of chemical tracers are known as ‘belts.’ On Saturn, we define cyclonic belts and anticyclonic zones via their temperature and wind characteristics, although their relation to Saturn’s albedo is not as clear as on Jupiter. On distant Uranus and Neptune, the exact relationships between the banded albedo contrasts and the environmental properties is a topic of active study. This review is an attempt to reconcile the observed properties of belts and zones with (i) the meridional overturning inferred from the convergence of eddy angular momentum into the eastward zonal jets at the cloud level on Jupiter and Saturn and the prevalence of moist convective activity in belts; and (ii) the opposing meridional motions inferred from the upper tropospheric temperature structure, which implies decay and dissipation of the zonal jets with altitude above the clouds. These two scenarios suggest meridional circulations in opposing directions, the former suggesting upwelling in belts, the latter suggesting upwelling in zones. Numerical simulations successfully reproduce the former, whereas there is a wealth of observational evidence in support of the latter. This presents an unresolved paradox for our current understanding of the banded structure of giant planet atmospheres, that could be addressed via a multi-tiered vertical structure of “stacked circulation cells,” with a natural transition from zonal jet pumping to dissipation as we move from the convectively-unstable mid-troposphere into the stably-stratified upper troposphere.

     

An overview of a Global Positioning System Mission Plannerimplemented on a personal computer

The Global Positioning System (GPS) Mission Planner (GMP) program, which has been implemented on an IBM PC, is described in terms of its features and architecture, and sample outputs are presented. The GMP was written to permit operational units to plan missions and to accomplish survivability and navigation assessments based on realistic trajectories, GPS almanac data, broadband jammer specifications, and digital terrain elevation data (DTED). GMP supports trajectory generation for generic air, land, or naval vehicles and has `sanity' checks for altitude acceleration, terrain slope, and velocity limits. A survivability measure is computed based on exposure time to various threat types. Yuma-type almanac data are used to support the GMP to define GPS satellite orbits. Jammers, threats, and trajectory wavepoints may be defined by either keyboard entry (e.g. longitude, latitude, and altitude) or via mouse and cursor on a displayed pseudo-color DTED map on the PC monitor. Satellite visibility and best dilution-of-precision (DOP) are computed using DTED. jammer visibility and power levels at the vehicle are similarly computed. A realistic body masking and antenna gain model is used to compute carrier-to-noise densities for each visible satellite. A navigation assessment program emulates a multichannel receiver to generate position and velocity measurement uncertainties. An integrated Kalman filter generates position and velocity navigation estimates. Results are graphically displayed to the operator