LARGE-SCALE STORMS IN SATURN ATMOSPHERE DURING 1994

Large-scale storms are rarely observed in Saturn's atmosphere, but the ir appearance traces the wind velocity field, providing information on the vertical structure of the clouds and on the dynamics of the atmos phere. Two large-scale atmospheric disturbances formed by clouds highl y reflective in the visible part of the spectrum were observed on Satu rn during 1994. An equatorial disturbance with a longitudinal size of similar to 27,000 kilometers drifted in longitude with a velocity of 2 73.6 meters per second. A second disturbance, a rapidly evolving conve ctive storm with an initial size similar to 7000 kilometers, was obser ved at 56 degrees south, moving with a zonal velocity of 15.5 meters p er second.