On the gravitational signature of zonal flows in Jupiter-like planets: An analytical solution and its numerical validation

Abstract

In late 2016, the Juno spacecraft will provide an accurate spectrum of the Jovian zonal gravitational coefficients that would be affected by both the deep zonal flow, if it exists, and the basic rotational distortion. We derive the first analytical solution, under the spheroidal-shape approximation, for the density anomaly induced by an internal zonal flow in rapidly rotating Jupiter-like planets. We compare the density anomaly of the analytical solution to that obtained from a fully numerical solution based on a three-dimensional finite element method; the two show excellent agreement. We apply the analytical solution to a rapidly rotating Jupiter-like planet and show that there exists a close relationship between the spatial structure of the zonal flow and the spectrum of zonal gravitational coefficients. We check the accuracy of the spheroidal-shape approximation by computing both the spheroidal and non-spheroidal solutions with exactly the same physical parameters. We also discuss implications of the new analytical solution for interpreting the future high-precision gravitational measurements of the Juno spacecraft.