Jupiter Quasi-Quadrennial Oscillation

  • Released Monday, December 18, 2017

When scientists look at Jupiter's upper atmosphere in infrared light, they see the region above the equator heating and cooling over a roughly four-year cycle. They dub this Jovian climate pattern the "quasi-quadrennial oscillation," or QQO, and it has a little sibling on Earth – a two-year temperature cycle accompanied by a reversal of the equatorial jet stream. Earth's cycle can influence the transport of aerosols and ozone and can affect the formation of hurricanes, making it an active area of climate research. Now, scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center have developed a new model for understanding Jupiter's QQO, which could lead to a refined understanding of Earth's own climate.

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NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

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This page was originally published on Monday, December 18, 2017.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, November 15, 2023 at 12:11 AM EST.


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