Galileo Probe Doppler residuals as the wave‐dynamical signature of weakly stable, downward‐increasing stratification in Jupiter's deep wind layer

Doppler radio tracking of the Galileo probe-to- orbiter relay, previously analyzed for its in situ measure of Jupiter's zonal wind at the equatorial entry site, also shows a record of significant residual fluctuations apparently indicative of varying vertical motions. Regular oscillations over pressure depth in the residual Doppler measurements of roughly 1-8 Hz (increasing upward), as filtered over a 134 sec window, are most plausibly interpreted as gravity waves, and imply a weak, but downward increasing static stability within the 5 - 20 bar region of Jupiter's atmosphere. A matched extension to deeper levels of an independent inertial stability constraint from the measured vertical wind shear at 1 - 4 bars is roughly consistent with a static stability of ~ 0.5 K/km near the 20 bar level, as independently detected by the probe Atmospheric Structure Instrument.

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