JUPITER - NEW RETRIEVED THERMAL PROFILES AND AMMONIA DISTRIBUTIONS

New thermal profiles of Jupiter are retrieved from recent far infrared spectral measurements and for H2 mixing ratios varying from 0.8 to 0.94. The effective temperature corresponding to the inferred thermal profile is 123.15 ± 0.35°K. Far-infrared brightness temperature spectra computed from these profiles are compared to experimental data including measurements made at high spectral resolution in the NH3 ν2 band at 10 μm and in NH3 pure rotational bands between 40 and 110 μm. It is found that a strong depletion of NH3 does occur in the Jovian stratosphere and that ammonia seems to be undersaturated in the upper troposphere. © 1979.