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[ Music ]

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So when we look
at Jupiter, we see a lot of

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structure that looks
very similar to the Earth.

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We can see storms, we see
cyclones, we see anticyclones,

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and these sort of storms and
weather systems that we see on

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Earth are very similar and
are happening on Jupiter.

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Fluid mechanics is hopefully the
same everywhere in the universe,

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but Jupiter and Earth
are very different.

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Jupiter is much bigger, it
rotates a lot faster, they're

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made of different material,
and Jupiter is much further away

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from the sun than the Earth is.

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The quasi-biennial oscillation,
or the QBO, on Earth is an

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equatorial phenomenon in the
stratosphere where the winds are

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changing direction
approximately every two years.

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Depending on which phase the QBO
is in, eastward or westward, the

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temperature signal corresponds
to that, so it's warmer in the

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eastward phase and
cooler in the westward phase.

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It's been shown that it
can actually be a barrier to

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transport of aerosols across the
equator, and has been linked to

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the frequency and the formation
of hurricanes in the Atlantic

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and the Pacific Ocean.

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The long-term scales on Earth's
climate is something that we're

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very interested in, and how
that applies to other planets'

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atmospheres is really why we're
studying Earth and Jupiter.

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The quasi-quadrennial
oscillation in Jupiter's

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stratosphere is a temperature
signal that we see in the

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equator, where we see the
temperature get warmer and

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cooler approximately
every four Earth years.

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We used a general circulation
model, where we focused on

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simulating the effects of
small-scale waves produced from

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convection in Jupiter's
equatorial region to simulate

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the QQO.

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The waves propagate upwards from
the clouds and force the winds

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in the stratosphere to change
direction, going from eastward

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to westward
approximately every four years.

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Our model was able to reproduce
the behavior of the QQO, but was

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also able to reproduce
temperatures from the

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observations, and both of
those together give us a lot of

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confidence that our model is
very accurate in what's driving

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the QQO.

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The outer planets serve as a
laboratory for understanding

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atmospheric physics under very
different conditions than are

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present on the Earth.

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Understanding how their
atmospheres change and evolve

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and their climates can give
us insight

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into any planetary atmosphere.

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