Andrew P. Ingersoll
Professor of Planetary Science, Emeritus
Research Options
Research Areas
Profile
Weather and Climate of the Planets
Understanding how atmospheres work, classifying their behavior, and developing numerical models to explain—these are the goals of a planetary meteorologist. The tools are interplanetary spacecraft like Viking, Pioneer Venus, Voyager, Mars Gobal Surveyor, Galileo, and Cassini—which collect data about temperatures, pressures, winds, clouds, and gaseous composition—and analysis tools including pencil and paper, computer workstations, video displays, and supercomputers.
Twelve planetary objects with atmospheres have been visited by spacecraft. Earth is in an intermediate class as regards atmospheric density. It absorbs energy at a higher rate (power per unit area) than any other planet with an atmosphere, and it has the most unpredictable weather. Its large-scale weather patterns (jet streams) are also the most slow-moving of any planetary circulations.
The Moon and Mercury have ballistic atmospheres, consisting of individual molecules hopping across the surface. Io, Triton, and Mars have thin, fluid atmospheres whose properties are largely controlled by interaction with surface frost deposits that have the same chemical composition as the atmospheres. To various degrees, these atmospheres "freeze out" during the night and during the winter seasons. Io's atmosphere is so thin that its horizontal winds reach supersonic speeds as the gas expands into the vacuum on the night side. Titan and Venus are more Earth-like, in that the surface and atmosphere interact on longer (geologic) time scales. Atmospheric density is larger for these objects than for the Earth, and the circulations are predominantly zonal—the winds blow east and west. The giant planets—Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune—are fluid objects. There are no continents or oceans to interfere with the flow of gas in the atmosphere. The structures that one sees are fluid structures—patterns in the clouds made visible by condensation of trace constituents. The winds are huge—exceeding 400 meters per second (900 miles per hour) on Saturn and Neptune. And the largest storms, like the Great Red Spot of Jupiter, last for decades or centuries. Their complicated time-dependent behavior—mergings, oscillations, formation of streamers and cusps—can be simulated in numerical models when the right parameters are chosen as input.
In July of 1994, fragments of Comet Shoemaker-Levy/9 entered Jupiter's atmosphere with an energy equivalent to one million megatons of TNT. The Hubble Space Telescope observed waves spreading outward from the impact site. Their speed of propagation provided critical information about Jupiter's water
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Publications
- Chen, Sihe;Ingersoll, Andrew P. et al. (2025) Vortex crystals at Jupiter's poles: Emergence controlled by initial small-scale turbulenceIcarus
- Bhattacharya, Ananyo;Li, Cheng et al. (2023) Highly Depleted Alkali Metals in Jupiter's Deep AtmosphereAstrophysical Journal Letters
- Gunnarson, Jacob L.;Sayanagi, Kunio M. et al. (2023) Multiple convective storms within a single cyclone on SaturnIcarus
- Ingersoll, Andrew P.;Ewald, Shawn P. et al. (2022) Vorticity and divergence at scales down to 200 km within and around the polar cyclones of JupiterNature Astronomy
- Mura, A.;Scarica, P. et al. (2022) Five Years of Observations of the Circumpolar Cyclones of JupiterJournal of Geophysical Research. Planets
- Scarica, P.;Grassi, D. et al. (2022) Stability of the Jupiter Southern Polar Vortices Inspected Through Vorticity Using Juno/JIRAM DataJournal of Geophysical Research. Planets
- Siegelman, Lia;Young, William R. et al. (2022) Polar vortex crystals: Emergence and structureProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- Siegelman, Lia;Klein, Patrice et al. (2022) Moist convection drives an upscale energy transfer at Jovian high latitudesNature Physics
- Ingersoll, Andrew P.;Atreya, Sushil et al. (2021) Jupiter's Overturning Circulation: Breaking Waves Take the Place of Solid BoundariesGeophysical Research Letters
- Duer, Keren;Gavriel, Nimrod et al. (2021) Evidence for Multiple Ferrel-Like Cells on JupiterGeophysical Research Letters
- Bolton, S. J.;Levin, S. M. et al. (2021) Microwave observations reveal the deep extent and structure of Jupiter's atmospheric vorticesScience
- Fletcher, L. N.;Oyafuso, F. A. et al. (2021) Jupiter's Temperate Belt/Zone Contrasts Revealed at Depth by Juno Microwave ObservationsJournal of Geophysical Research: Planets
- Mura, A.;Adriani, A. et al. (2021) Oscillations and Stability of the Jupiter Polar CyclonesGeophysical Research Letters
- Galanti, Eli;Kaspi, Yohai et al. (2021) Constraints on the Latitudinal Profile of Jupiter's Deep JetsGeophysical Research Letters
- Ingersoll, Andrew P. (2020) Cassini Exploration of the Planet Saturn: A Comprehensive ReviewSpace Science Reviews
- Li, Cheng;Ingersoll, Andrew P. et al. (2020) Modeling the stability of polygonal patterns of vortices at the poles of Jupiter as revealed by the Juno spacecraftProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- Zhang, Zhimeng;Adumitroaie, Virgil et al. (2020) Residual Study: Testing Jupiter Atmosphere Models Against Juno MWR ObservationsEarth and Space Science
- Becker, Heidi N.;Alexander, James W. et al. (2020) Small lightning flashes from shallow electrical storms on JupiterNature
- Guillot, Tristan;Li, Cheng et al. (2020) Storms and the Depletion of Ammonia in Jupiter: II. Explaining the Juno ObservationsJournal of Geophysical Research. Planets
- Tiscareno, Matthew S.;Vaquero, Mar et al. (2020) The Saturn Ring Skimmer Mission Concept: The next step to explore Saturn's rings, atmosphere, interior and inner magnetosphere
- Malhotra, Renu;Ingersoll, Andrew P. (2020) Adam P. Showman (1968–2020)Icarus
- Ingersoll, Andrew P.;Ewald, Shawn P. et al. (2020) Time variability of the Enceladus plumes: Orbital periods, decadal periods, and aperiodic changeIcarus
- Orton, Glenn S.;Tabataba-Vakili, Fachreddin et al. (2020) A Survey of Small-Scale Waves and Wave-Like Phenomena in Jupiter's Atmosphere Detected by JunoCamJournal of Geophysical Research. Planets
- Moriconi, M. L.;Migliorini, A. et al. (2020) Turbulence Power Spectra in Regions Surrounding Jupiter's South Polar Cyclones from Juno/JIRAMJournal of Geophysical Research. Planets
- Li, Cheng;Ingersoll, Andrew et al. (2020) The water abundance in Jupiter's equatorial zoneNature Astronomy
Instructor: Ingersoll
Instructor: Ingersoll
Instructor: Ingersoll
Instructor: Ingersoll
Instructor: Ingersoll