The abundance and distribution of water vapor in Jupiter's atmosphere

The atmospheric transmission window between 1800 and 2250 cm(-1) in Jupiter's atmosphere was observed from the Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO) and by the infrared spectrometer (IRIS) on Voyager. The vertical distribution of H/sub 2/O was derived for the 1 to 6 bar portion of Jupiter's troposphere. The spatial variation of H/sub 2/O was measured using IRIS spectra of the Hot Spots in the North and South Equatorial Belts, the Equatorial Zone, and for an average of the North and South Tropical Zones. The H/sub 2/O column abundance above the 4 bar level is the same in the zones as in the SEB Hot Spots, about 20 cm-amagat. The NEB Hot Spots are desiccated by a factor of 3 with respect to the rest of Jupiter. For an average between -40 to 40 deg latitude, the H/sub 2/O mole fraction, qH/sub 2/O, is saturated for P less than 2 bars, qH/sub 2/O = 4x10 to the -6 in the 2 to 4 bar range and it increases to 3x10 to the -5 at 6 bars. A similar vertical profile applies to the spatially resolved zone and belt spectra, except that H/sub 2/O falls off more rapidly at P less than 4more » bars in the NEB Hot Spots. The massive H/sub 2/O cloud at 5 bars, T = 273 K, proposed in solar composition models, is inconsistent with the observations. Instead, a thin H/sub 2/O ice cloud would form at 2 bars, T = 200 K. The O/H ratio in Jupiter, inferred from H/sub 2/O measurements in both belts and zones at 6 bars, is depleted by a factor of 50 with respect to the Sun. The implications for the origin of Jupiter of globally depleted O/H, but enhanced C/H and N/H, are discussed.« less