Deep convective entrainment by downdrafts in Jupiter's atmosphere

The Galileo probe into Jupiter's atmosphere entered a "hot spot" composed of dry, less dense air. Despite assertions that hot spots are regions of downwelling, no viable mechanism has been proposed to transport less dense air over a scale height into the deep atmosphere. Here, we present a numerical simulation of convection in Jupiter's atmosphere which indicates that less dense air from above the clouds may be carried into the deep atmosphere by strong convective entrainment, (C) 1998 Academic Press.