title: Polar lightning and decadal-scale cloud variability on Jupiter.
abstract: Although lightning has been seen on other planets, including Jupiter, polar lightning has been known only on Earth. Optical observations from the New Horizons spacecraft have identified lightning at high latitudes above Jupiter up to 80 degrees N and 74 degrees S. Lightning rates and optical powers were similar at each pole, and the mean optical flux is comparable to that at nonpolar latitudes, which is consistent with the notion that internal heat is the main driver of convection. Both near-infrared and ground-based 5-micrometer thermal imagery reveal that cloud cover has thinned substantially since the 2000 Cassini flyby, particularly in the turbulent wake of the Great Red Spot and in the southern half of the equatorial region, demonstrating that vertical dynamical processes are time-varying on seasonal scales at mid- and low latitudes on Jupiter.
authors.affiliation: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena CA 91109, USA.
authors.forename: Kevin H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Baines
authors.forename: Amy A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Simon-Miller
authors.forename: Glenn S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Orton
authors.forename: Harold A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Weaver
authors.forename: Allen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lunsford
authors.forename: Thomas W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Momary
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Spencer
authors.forename: Andrew F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Dennis C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Reuter
authors.forename: Donald E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Jennings
authors.forename: G R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Gladstone
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.forename: S Alan
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Stern
authors.forename: Leslie A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Young
authors.forename: Henry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Throop
authors.forename: Padma
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Yanamandra-Fisher
authors.forename: Brendan M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hora
authors.forename: Michael E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Ressler