Wave Activity in Jupiter's North Equatorial Belt From Near‐Infrared Reflectivity Observations

High spatial resolution images of Jupiter at 1.58–2.28 μm are used to track and characterize a wave pattern observed in 2017 at a planetocentric latitude of 14°N. The wave pattern has a wave number of 18 and spans ∼5° in latitude. One bright crest remains stationary in System III longitude, while the remaining crests move slowly westward. The bright and dark regions of the near‐infrared wave pattern are caused by variations in the vertical location of the upper tropospheric haze layer. A comparison with thermal infrared observations shows a correlation with temperature anomalies in the upper troposphere. The results are consistent with a Rossby wave, generated by flow around a stationary vortex. The Gemini North telescope was used to take high spatial resolution images of Jupiter in the near‐infrared during 2017–2018. These images can be used to track the complex movement of hazes in Jupiter's upper atmosphere. The timing of these observations is particularly relevant because the Juno mission is currently in orbit around Jupiter, and near‐infrared images of the entire planet's disk can be used to place the measurements from Juno's instruments in a broader context. In this paper, we focus on a particularly prominent atmospheric feature that was observed during this time period: a bright wave pattern in Jupiter's northern hemisphere. We track the movement of this wave pattern with time, we study its three‐dimensional structure, and we compare these near‐infrared observations with images taken in the visible and thermal infrared. We find that the wave is consistent with a Rossby wave, generated by flow around a stationary vortex. These results can be used to inform future numerical simulations of Jupiter's atmosphere, helping us to understand the dynamics that drive the planet's complex weather patterns. Near‐infrared images of Jupiter are used to track the evolution of a wave pattern in the planet's North Equatorial BeltThe wave pattern has a wave number of ∼18, is located at 12–17°N, and moves slowly westwardThe bright and dark regions of the wave are caused by variations in the vertical location of the upper tropospheric haze layer