Seasonal changes in Titan's polar trace gas abundance observed by cassini
We use a six-year data set (2004-2010) of mid-infrared spectra measured by Cassini's Composite InfraRed Spectrometer to search for seasonal variations in Titan's atmospheric temperature and composition. During most of Cassini's mission Titan's northern hemisphere has been in wint...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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2010
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| _version_ | 1797052526654128128 |
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| author | Teanby, N Irwin, P De Kok, R Nixon, C |
| author_facet | Teanby, N Irwin, P De Kok, R Nixon, C |
| author_sort | Teanby, N |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | We use a six-year data set (2004-2010) of mid-infrared spectra measured by Cassini's Composite InfraRed Spectrometer to search for seasonal variations in Titan's atmospheric temperature and composition. During most of Cassini's mission Titan's northern hemisphere has been in winter, with an intense stratospheric polar vortex highly enriched in trace gases, and a single south-to-north circulation cell. Following northern spring equinox in mid-2009, dramatic changes in atmospheric temperature and composition were expected, but until now the temporal coverage of polar latitudes has been too sparse to discern trends. Here, we show that during equinox and post-equinox periods, abundances of trace gases at both poles have begun to increase.We propose that increases in north polar trace gases are due to a seasonal reduction in gas depletion by horizontal mixing across the vortex boundary. A simultaneous south polar abundance increase suggests that Titan is now entering, or is about to enter, a transitional circulation regime with two branches, rather than the single branch circulation pattern previously observed. © 2010. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T18:32:49Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:0a3bb2c9-ea37-4b87-b196-96074ceff7f3 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T18:32:49Z |
| publishDate | 2010 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:0a3bb2c9-ea37-4b87-b196-96074ceff7f32022-03-26T09:22:43ZSeasonal changes in Titan's polar trace gas abundance observed by cassiniJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:0a3bb2c9-ea37-4b87-b196-96074ceff7f3EnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2010Teanby, NIrwin, PDe Kok, RNixon, CWe use a six-year data set (2004-2010) of mid-infrared spectra measured by Cassini's Composite InfraRed Spectrometer to search for seasonal variations in Titan's atmospheric temperature and composition. During most of Cassini's mission Titan's northern hemisphere has been in winter, with an intense stratospheric polar vortex highly enriched in trace gases, and a single south-to-north circulation cell. Following northern spring equinox in mid-2009, dramatic changes in atmospheric temperature and composition were expected, but until now the temporal coverage of polar latitudes has been too sparse to discern trends. Here, we show that during equinox and post-equinox periods, abundances of trace gases at both poles have begun to increase.We propose that increases in north polar trace gases are due to a seasonal reduction in gas depletion by horizontal mixing across the vortex boundary. A simultaneous south polar abundance increase suggests that Titan is now entering, or is about to enter, a transitional circulation regime with two branches, rather than the single branch circulation pattern previously observed. © 2010. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. |
| spellingShingle | Teanby, N Irwin, P De Kok, R Nixon, C Seasonal changes in Titan's polar trace gas abundance observed by cassini |
| title | Seasonal changes in Titan's polar trace gas abundance observed by cassini |
| title_full | Seasonal changes in Titan's polar trace gas abundance observed by cassini |
| title_fullStr | Seasonal changes in Titan's polar trace gas abundance observed by cassini |
| title_full_unstemmed | Seasonal changes in Titan's polar trace gas abundance observed by cassini |
| title_short | Seasonal changes in Titan's polar trace gas abundance observed by cassini |
| title_sort | seasonal changes in titan s polar trace gas abundance observed by cassini |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT teanbyn seasonalchangesintitanspolartracegasabundanceobservedbycassini AT irwinp seasonalchangesintitanspolartracegasabundanceobservedbycassini AT dekokr seasonalchangesintitanspolartracegasabundanceobservedbycassini AT nixonc seasonalchangesintitanspolartracegasabundanceobservedbycassini |