Active upper-atmosphere chemistry and dynamics from polar circulation reversal on Titan
Teanby, N.A. and Irwin, P.G.J. and Nixon, C.A. and de Kok, R. and Vinatier, S. and Coustenis, A. and Sefton - nash, Elliot and Calcutt, S.B. and Flasar, F.M. (2012) Active upper-atmosphere chemistry and dynamics from polar circulation reversal on Titan. Nature 491 , pp. 732-735. ISSN 0028-0836.
Abstract
Saturn’s moon Titan has a nitrogen atmosphere comparable to Earth’s, with a surface pressure of 1.4 bar. Numerical models reproduce the tropospheric conditions very well but have trouble explaining the observed middle-atmosphere temperatures, composition and winds1, 2. The top of the middle-atmosphere circulation has been thought to lie at an altitude of 450 to 500 kilometres, where there is a layer of haze that appears to be separated from the main haze deck3. This ‘detached’ haze was previously explained as being due to the co-location of peak haze production and the limit of dynamical transport by the circulation’s upper branch4. Here we report a build-up of trace gases over the south pole approximately two years after observing the 2009 post-equinox circulation reversal, from which we conclude that middle-atmosphere circulation must extend to an altitude of at least 600 kilometres. The primary drivers of this circulation are summer-hemisphere heating of haze by absorption of solar radiation and winter-hemisphere cooling due to infrared emission by haze and trace gases5; our results therefore imply that these effects are important well into the thermosphere (altitudes higher than 500 kilometres). This requires both active upper-atmosphere chemistry, consistent with the detection of high-complexity molecules and ions at altitudes greater than 950 kilometres6, 7, and an alternative explanation for the detached haze, such as a transition in haze particle growth from monomers to fractal structures.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science > School of Natural Sciences |
| Depositing User: | Sarah Hall |
| Date Deposited: | 07 Jun 2016 12:07 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Aug 2023 17:24 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/15445 |
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