(Proposal ID) S15B-049

(PI) Kasaba, Yasumasa

(Proposal Title)
MIR spectroscopic study of Jupiter's polar regions with JAXA/Hisaki

(Abstract)
We request one run of two sequential 6-hour nights with COMICS in mid-to-late 
January 2016, to observe the Jovian polar stratospheres heated by solar EUV 
and auroral activities during continuous JAXA/Hisaki UV/EUV observations with 
larger doppler shift (-22 km/s).  With COMICS in NM spectroscopy mode, we 
propose to acquire the full longitudinal coverage for the emission features 
of CH_4, C_2H_2, C_2H_4 and C_2H_6 at high spatial resolution with a simple 
slit scan method by Jovian rotation. These spectra together with radiative 
transfer inversion enable us to determine the spatial profiles of temperature 
and chemical composition and to study the dynamics of Jupiter's polar 
stratosphere with enough accuracy for the comparison to our modeling study. 
This observation will capture the observability of Jovian atmospheric heating 
in short and long terms with continuous UV auroral activity information. This 
work will be crucial in the preparation for NASA Juno's arrival at Jupiter in 
2016 since the spacecraft does not include a thermal infrared instrument. 
It is also useful to the design and preparation of Jovian atmospheric study 
plan by ESA JUICE SWI (submm) which will start the real development from 
spring 2015.