Zonal Winds of Uranus: Analysis, Modelling and Prospects

Uranus is observed to have fast surface zonal winds with speeds reaching up to 200 ms−1 relative to its assumed bulk rotation. The exact decay behaviour of the winds is uncertain, but there is indirect evidence that they must decay rapidly in relatively shallow layers of Uranus. By analysing thousands of Uranus interior structure models our study investigates the Uranian zonal wind decay via past zonal gravitational harmonics measurements, as well as understanding our limitations of future zonal wind constraints with a prospective Uranus mission (as proposed by NASA’s Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey 2023-2032). In addition, we explore the effect of zonal wind decay on planetary shapes, the relationship of zonal wind decay and planetary bulk rotation, and the effect of alternative surface zonal wind profile fits to surface wind measurements on aforementioned phenomena.