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Zonal wind in Jupiter simulation

The zonal velocity is shown at the level in the model that corresponds roughly to the estimated level of the cloud tops from which the observed flow is inferred (0.75 bar). Clearly recognizable is the prograde (superrotating) equatorial jet and alternating off-equatorial jets. Their strengths and widths depend on observationally poorly constrained drag parameters (Liu and Schneider 2015). Also recognizable are Rossby wave packets especially on the equatorial jet, with retrograde propagation and phase lines that have the characteristic chevron shape indicating angular momentum transport into the jet, as is observed to occur.