Saturn's temperature field from high-resolution middle-infrared imaging.

Saturn was imaged between 8 and 24.5 micrometers at approximately 3000-kilometer resolution with the Keck I Telescope. Saturn's atmosphere has zonal temperature bands, which are mostly uncorrelated with visible cloud reflectivity, strong 100-millibar zonal temperature oscillations near 32 degrees S, a warm south polar cap, and a compact hot point within 3 degrees of the south pole.

Spatial Organization and Time Dependence of Jupiter's Tropospheric Temperatures, 1980-1993.

The spatial organization and time dependence of Jupiter's temperatures near 250-millibar pressure were measured through a jovian year by imaging thermal emission at 18 micrometers. The temperature field is influenced by seasonal radiative forcing, and its banded organization is closely correlated with the visible cloud field. Evidence was found for a quasi-periodic oscillation of temperatures in the Equatorial Zone, a correlation between tropospheric and stratospheric waves in the North Equatorial Belt, and slowly moving thermal features in the North and South Equatorial Belts. There appears to be no common relation between temporal changes of temperature and changes in the visual albedo of the various axisymmetric bands.