Jupiter’s North Polar Lightning Distribution

Abstract:

The NASA Juno spacecraft, which has been in Jupiter polar orbit since 2016, has orbited the planet over 30 times. The orbit geometry and spacecraft spin orientation has increasingly given the Juno Microwave Radiometer wide coverage over Jupiter’s north pole. This has enabled a statistically significant sampling of the distribution of lightning at latitudes north of about 50^o. Here we report on the distribution of lighting derived from Juno Microwave Radiometer observations through 30 orbits. To date, we have detected more than 3600 individual discharges. Lightning is found most frequently poleward of 45 degrees in both hemispheres, however the northern hemisphere has a higher lightning frequency. We find that lightning favors the belts over the zones. We will report on the lightning flash rate as a function of location on the planet, focusing on the north pole.