GALILEO IMAGING OF JUPITER ATMOSPHERE - THE GREAT RED SPOT, EQUATORIAL REGION, AND WHITE OVALS

During the first six orbits of the Galileo spacecraft's prime mission, the Solid State Imaging (SSI) system acquired multispectral image mos aics of Jupiter's Great Red Spot, an equatorial belt/zone boundary, a ''5-mu m hot spot'' similar to the Galileo Probe entry site, and two o f the classic White Ovals. We present mosaics of each region, approxim ating their appearance at visible wavelengths and showing cloud height and opacity variations. The local wind field is derived by tracking c loud motions between multiple observations of each region with time se parations of roughly 1 and 10 hr. Vertical cloud structure is derived in a companion paper by Banfield et al, (Icarus 135, 230-250). Galileo 's brief, high-resolution observations complement Earth-based and Voya ger studies and offer local meteorological context for the Galileo Pro be results. Our results show that the dynamics of the zonal jets and l arge vortices have changed little since Voyager, with a few exceptions . We detect a cyclonic current within the center of the predominantly anticyclonic Great Red Spot, The zonal velocity difference between 0 d egrees S and 6 degrees S has increased by 20 m sec(-1). We measure a s trong northeast flow approaching the hot spot, This flow indicates eit her massive horizontal convergence or the presence of a large anticycl onic vortex southeast of the hot spot, The current compact arrangement of two White Ovals and a cyclonic structure greatly perturbs the zona l jets in that region. (C) 1998 Academic Press.