Low-latitude thermal structure of Jupiter in the region 0.1-5 bars

The radiative heat flux from 0.1 to 10 bars is estimated on the basis of a two-cloud scattering model that fits available spectral data and Pioneer photometry. Deeper than a few bars, the flux is 4.5 W/sq m, compared with the 18.8 W/sq m used in an earlier study by Trafton and Stone. A temperature profile is computed, with the H2 pressure-induced opacity the temperature at 1 bar is found to be 156 K, rather than the commonly accepted 170 K. An additional optical depth of unity at the 0.67-bar level could restore the conventional value otherwise a considerably cooler atmosphere is a serious possibility