Abstract
Traditional understanding and recent studies on the cloud structure of Jupiter's atmosphere are briefly reviewed, and the effects of aerosols on Jupiter's clouds are discussed. The cloud structure of Jupiter's atmosphere has been expected by using Equilibrium Cloud Condensation Model (ECCM) . It shows that H2O forms the lowest cloud layer and that the cloud layer of NH4SH and NH3 ice form above that of the H2O ice. The results of the optical remote sensing by Galileo Orbiter and the direct measurement by Galileo Probe were, however, not consistent with the prediction of ECCM. Recently, we have been numerically investigating possible cloud structures of Jupiter by using moist convection model which can represent convective motion and associated cloud formation explicitly. The results of numerical simulations performed by using moist convection model show that the H2O and NH4SH clouds can be advected to the altitude of the NH3 cloud layer by convective motion. For further investigation of the cloud structure of Jupiter's atmosphere, however, it is necessary to consider the effects of the candidate species of aerosols in Jupiter's atmosphere on its cloud microphysics.
