Variations of the volume scattering coefficient of aerosol in the Jovian atmosphere from observations of the planetary disk

摘要

Data on variations of the volume scattering coefficient sigma (a) (P) with depth in the atmosphere of Jupiter are presented. They were obtained from the analysis of the spectrophotometric observations of Jupiter in 1993 and 1995 in the methane absorption bands of lambda = 887, 864, 842, 727, and 619 nm and reduced to the wavelength lambda = 887 nm. In the sigma (a) (P) dependences obtained from the data of 1993, aerosol layers of a finite optical thickness are undoubtedly distinguished: four layers in the upper part of the atmosphere and one deeper layer. The maxima of sigma (a) (P) in these layers are at the altitude levels approximately corresponding to the pressure values of 1.1 and 16 bar, respectively. In 1995, the value of sigma a(P) in the upper part of the atmosphere and in the deeper layer increased relative to the values of 1993 by less than 5% and up to 60%, respectively. At the deeper atmospheric levels, the spectral dependence of sigma (a) (P) was revealed, which probably points to the change of the size of aerosol particles.