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About me
My research fouces on developing microwave remote sensing techniques to investigate the dynamics of Earth’s surface and planetary atmospheres.
Giant planet: atmospheric compositions, thermal structure, and planetary lightning activities using mission measurements.
Terrestrial ecohydrology remote sensing and surface modeling. Cometary science: coma compositions, nucleus outgassing activities.
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Selected Publications (view all )
Juno Microwave Radiometer Observations Reveal A Warmer Polar Atmophere on Jupiter
Jiheng Hu, Cheng Li*, Sushil K. Atreya, Leigh N. Fletcher, Eli Galanti, Tristan Guillot, Yohai Kaspi, Liming Li, Yuan Lian, Alessandro Mura, Glenn S. Orton, Fabiano A. Oyafuso, Maria Smirnova, J. Hunter Waite, Michael H. Wong, Zhimeng Zhang, Steven M. Levin, and Scott J. Bolton
The Astrophysical Journal 2026 Accepted, in press
We report recent close-in observations of Jupiter’s north pole acquired by NASA’s Juno Microwave Radiometer (MWR) during PJ51 to PJ61. The Microwave spectra points to two equally plausible atmospheric scenarios: (1) a dry-adiabatic profile with slightly depleted ammonia gas at a few bars, or (2) a moist-adiabatic profile with uniform ammonia. Markov chain Monte Carlo retrievals yield a deep ammonia abundance of $354.8^{+12.0}_{-11.0}$ ppmv ($\sim3\pm0.1\times$solar) and a water abundance of $1.8^{+1.5}_{-1.1}\times10^{3}$ ppmv ($\sim2.1^{+1.8}_{-1.3}\times$solar), resembling previous estimates at lower latitudes. Remarkably, the north pole is found to be 6–7 K warmer than the equator at the 1-bar level, suggesting an enhanced internal heat flux toward the poles on Jupiter.
Juno Microwave Radiometer Observations Reveal A Warmer Polar Atmophere on Jupiter
Jiheng Hu, Cheng Li*, Sushil K. Atreya, Leigh N. Fletcher, Eli Galanti, Tristan Guillot, Yohai Kaspi, Liming Li, Yuan Lian, Alessandro Mura, Glenn S. Orton, Fabiano A. Oyafuso, Maria Smirnova, J. Hunter Waite, Michael H. Wong, Zhimeng Zhang, Steven M. Levin, and Scott J. Bolton
The Astrophysical Journal 2026 Accepted, in press
We report recent close-in observations of Jupiter’s north pole acquired by NASA’s Juno Microwave Radiometer (MWR) during PJ51 to PJ61. The Microwave spectra points to two equally plausible atmospheric scenarios: (1) a dry-adiabatic profile with slightly depleted ammonia gas at a few bars, or (2) a moist-adiabatic profile with uniform ammonia. Markov chain Monte Carlo retrievals yield a deep ammonia abundance of $354.8^{+12.0}_{-11.0}$ ppmv ($\sim3\pm0.1\times$solar) and a water abundance of $1.8^{+1.5}_{-1.1}\times10^{3}$ ppmv ($\sim2.1^{+1.8}_{-1.3}\times$solar), resembling previous estimates at lower latitudes. Remarkably, the north pole is found to be 6–7 K warmer than the equator at the 1-bar level, suggesting an enhanced internal heat flux toward the poles on Jupiter.
Alkali Metallicity, Mineral Clouds, and Deep Atmospheric Variability on Jupiter
Xi Zhang*, Jiheng Hu, Cheng Li, and Quentin Williams
The Astrophysical Journal 2026 What's happening in the deep layers?
This study addresses an emerging puzzle from Juno Microwave Radiometer (MWR) observations, Jupiter's deep atmosphere (pressures gt. 1000 bar) shows electron depletion, implying subsolar alkali metal (Na, K) abundances in contrast to the supersolar enrichments of other volatiles measured by the Galileo probe. We reconcile these constraints by proposing that alkalis are sequestered into deep mineral clouds through two mechanisms. 1 Chemical Sequestration- Vertical mixing forms alkali feldspars and feldspathoids, locking Na and K chemically. 2 Electron Attachment- Sub-micron hazes of iron and silicates scavenge free electrons efficiently.
Alkali Metallicity, Mineral Clouds, and Deep Atmospheric Variability on Jupiter
Xi Zhang*, Jiheng Hu, Cheng Li, and Quentin Williams
The Astrophysical Journal 2026 What's happening in the deep layers?
This study addresses an emerging puzzle from Juno Microwave Radiometer (MWR) observations, Jupiter's deep atmosphere (pressures gt. 1000 bar) shows electron depletion, implying subsolar alkali metal (Na, K) abundances in contrast to the supersolar enrichments of other volatiles measured by the Galileo probe. We reconcile these constraints by proposing that alkalis are sequestered into deep mineral clouds through two mechanisms. 1 Chemical Sequestration- Vertical mixing forms alkali feldspars and feldspathoids, locking Na and K chemically. 2 Electron Attachment- Sub-micron hazes of iron and silicates scavenge free electrons efficiently.
Global Retrieval of Harmonized Microwave Land Surface Emissivity Leveraging MultiSensor Measurements from GMI, AMSR2 and MWRIs
Jiheng Hu, Rui Li*, Peng Zhang, Yu Wang, Shengli Wu, Husi Letu, Fuzhong Weng
Remote Sensing of Environment 2026 We must see more!!!
We present an innovative framework to retrieve harmonized emissivity from observations of five passive microwave sensors. Six geostationary visible and infrared imagers onboard geostationary platforms were collocated to jointly provide clear-sky masks covering the globe. Sophisticated intercalibrations were applied to scale all emissivity subsets to be aligned with the GMI retrievals.
Global Retrieval of Harmonized Microwave Land Surface Emissivity Leveraging MultiSensor Measurements from GMI, AMSR2 and MWRIs
Jiheng Hu, Rui Li*, Peng Zhang, Yu Wang, Shengli Wu, Husi Letu, Fuzhong Weng
Remote Sensing of Environment 2026 We must see more!!!
We present an innovative framework to retrieve harmonized emissivity from observations of five passive microwave sensors. Six geostationary visible and infrared imagers onboard geostationary platforms were collocated to jointly provide clear-sky masks covering the globe. Sophisticated intercalibrations were applied to scale all emissivity subsets to be aligned with the GMI retrievals.
Global Microwave Land Surface Emissivity Under all Weather Conditions Derived From Fengyun-3D Satellite Observations
Qingyang Liu#, Jiheng Hu#, Peng Zhang, Yonghong Liu, Rui Li*
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 2025 Nature Index
We proposed in this paper a global all-weather microwave land surface emissivity (MLSE) data set (2020--2022), which is retrieved combining passive microwave observations of FY3D/MWRI, cloud properties retrievals of FY3D/MERSI. We evaluated it against four existing reference datasets which are not available at present, which showed comapared accuracy and seasonality of our product to these reference data.
Global Microwave Land Surface Emissivity Under all Weather Conditions Derived From Fengyun-3D Satellite Observations
Qingyang Liu#, Jiheng Hu#, Peng Zhang, Yonghong Liu, Rui Li*
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 2025 Nature Index
We proposed in this paper a global all-weather microwave land surface emissivity (MLSE) data set (2020--2022), which is retrieved combining passive microwave observations of FY3D/MWRI, cloud properties retrievals of FY3D/MERSI. We evaluated it against four existing reference datasets which are not available at present, which showed comapared accuracy and seasonality of our product to these reference data.
