The influence of hydrogen sulfide, a still-undetected key molecule for the Jovian atmospheric chemistry in the infrared spectrum, was investigated. Synthetic spectra including various vertical distribution profiles of H2S have been computed and compared with observational data for Jupiter in the 2- to 15-cm−1 and 1160- to 1200-cm−1 spectral ranges. No firm conclusion about the presence of H2S can be drawn from the latter spectral region because of large uncertainties in gaseous opacities. In the microwave range, H2S is found to be a possible candidate to explain the measurements. Constraints to its vertical distribution which would imply a significant supersaturation in the troposphere are derived. Physical and chemical processes involving H2S in the atmosphere are discussed in the light of this hypothesis.
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