Model-data comparisons for Titan's nightside ionosphere

Solar and X-ray radiation and energetic plasma from Saturn's magnetosphere interact with the upper atmosphere producing an ionosphere at Titan. The highly coupled ionosphere and upper atmosphere system mediates the interaction between Titan and the external environment. A model of Titan's nightside ionosphere will be described and the results compared with data from the Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS) and the Langmuir probe (LP) part of the Radio and Plasma Wave (RPWS) experiment for the T5 and T21 nightside encounters of the Cassini Orbiter with Titan. Electron impact ionization associated with the precipitation of magnetospheric electrons into the upper atmosphere is assumed to be the source of the nightside ionosphere, at least for altitudes above 1000 km. Magnetospheric electron fluxes measured by the Cassini electron spectrometer (CAPS ELS) are used as an input for the model. The model is used to interpret the observed composition and structure of the T5 and T21 ionospheres. The densities of many ion species (e.g., CH⁺₅ and C₂H⁺₅) measured during T5 exhibit temporal and/or spatial variations apparently associated with variations in the fluxes of energetic electrons that precipitate into the atmosphere from Saturn's magnetosphere.     

Heavy ion formation in Titan's ionosphere: Magnetospheric introduction of free oxygen and a source of Titan's aerosols?

Discovery by Cassini's plasma instrument of heavy positive and negative ions within Titan's upper atmosphere and ionosphere has advanced our understanding of ion neutral chemistry within Titan's upper atmosphere, primarily composed of molecular nitrogen, with ~2.5% methane. The external energy flux transforms Titan's upper atmosphere and ionosphere into a medium rich in complex hydrocarbons, nitriles and haze particles extending from the surface to 1200 km altitudes. The energy sources are solar UV, solar X-rays, Saturn's magnetospheric ions and electrons, solar wind and shocked magnetosheath ions and electrons, galactic cosmic rays (GCR) and the ablation of incident meteoritic dust from Enceladus’ E-ring and interplanetary medium. Here it is proposed that the heavy atmospheric ions detected in situ by Cassini for heights >950 km, are the likely seed particles for aerosols detected by the Huygens probe for altitudes <100 km. These seed particles may be in the form of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) containing both carbon and hydrogen atoms C_nH_x. There could also be hollow shells of carbon atoms, such as C₆₀, called fullerenes which contain no hydrogen. The fullerenes may compose a significant fraction of the seed particles with PAHs contributing the rest. As shown by Cassini, the upper atmosphere is bombarded by magnetospheric plasma composed of protons, H₂⁺ and water group ions. The latter provide keV oxygen, hydroxyl and water ions to Titan's upper atmosphere and can become trapped within the fullerene molecules and ions. Pickup keV N₂⁺, N⁺ and CH₄⁺ can also be implanted inside of fullerenes. Attachment of oxygen ions to PAH molecules is uncertain, but following thermalization O+ can interact with abundant CH₄ contributing to the CO and CO₂ observed in Titan's atmosphere. If an exogenic keV O+ ion is implanted into the haze particles, it could become free oxygen within those aerosols that eventually fall onto Titan's surface. The process of freeing oxygen within aerosols could be driven by cosmic ray interactions with aerosols at all heights. This process could drive pre-biotic chemistry within the descending aerosols. Cosmic ray interactions with grains at the surface, including water frost depositing on grains from cryovolcanism, would further add to abundance of trapped free oxygen. Pre-biotic chemistry could arise within surface microcosms of the composite organic-ice grains, in part driven by free oxygen in the presence of organics and any heat sources, thereby raising the astrobiological potential for microscopic equivalents of Darwin's “warm ponds” on Titan.     

Coupled ion and neutral rotating model of Titan's upper atmosphere

A one-dimensional composition model of Titan's upper atmosphere is constructed, coupling 36 neutral species and 47 ions. Energy inputs from the Sun and from Saturn's magnetosphere and updated temperature and eddy coefficient parameters are taken into account. A rotating technique at constant latitude and varying local-time is proposed to account for the diurnal variation of solar inputs. The contributions of photodissocation, neutral chemistry, ion-neutral chemistry, and electron recombination to neutral production are presented as a function of altitude and local time. Local time-dependent mixing ratio and density profiles are presented in the context of the TA and T₅ Cassini data and are compared in detail to previous models. An independent and simplified ion and neutral scheme (19-species) is also proposed for future 3D-purposes. The model results demonstrate that a complete understanding of the chemistry of Titan's upper atmosphere requires an understanding of the coupled ion and neutral chemistry. In particular, the ionospheric chemistry makes significant contributions to production rates of several important neutral species.     

The photochemical model of Titan’s atmosphere and ionosphere: A version without hydrodynamic escape

There are observational and theoretical evidences both in favor of and against hydrodynamic escape (HDE) on Titan, and the problem remains unsolved. A test presented here for a static thermosphere does not support HDE on Titan and Triton but favors HDE on Pluto. Cooling of the atmosphere by the HCN rotational lines is limited by rotational relaxation above 1100 km and self-absorption below 900 km on Titan. HDE can affect the structure and composition of the atmosphere and its evolution. Hydrocarbon, nitrile, and ion chemistries are strongly coupled on Titan, and attempts to calculate them separately may result in significant errors. Here we apply our photochemical model of Titan’s atmosphere and ionosphere to the case of no hydrodynamic escape. Our model is still the only after-Cassini self-consistent model of coupled neutral and ion chemistry. The lack of HDE is a distinct possibility, and comparing models with and without HDE is of practical interest. The mean difference between the models and the neutral and ion compositions observed by INMS are somewhat better for the model with HDE. A reaction of NH₂ with H₂CN suggested by Yelle et al. (2009) reduces but does not remove a significant difference between the ammonia abundances in the models and INMS observations. Losses of methane and nitrogen and production and deposition to the surface of hydrocarbons and nitriles are evaluated in the model, along with lifetimes and evolutionary aspects.     

A photochemical model of Titan's atmosphere and ionosphere

A global-mean model of coupled neutral and ion chemistry on Titan has been developed. Unlike the previous coupled models, the model involves ambipolar diffusion and escape of ions, hydrodynamic escape of light species, and calculates the H₂ and CO densities near the surface that were assigned in some previous models. We tried to reduce the numbers of species and reactions in the model and remove all species and reactions that weakly affect the observed species. Hydrocarbon chemistry is extended to C₁₂H₁₀ for neutrals and C₁₀H⁺₁₁ for ions but does not include PAHs. The model involves 415 reactions of 83 neutrals and 33 ions, effects of magnetospheric electrons, protons, and cosmic rays. UV absorption by Titan's haze was calculated using the Huygens observations and a code for the aggregate particles. Hydrocarbon, nitrile, and ion chemistries are strongly coupled on Titan, and attempt to calculate them separately (e.g., in models of ionospheric composition) may result in significant error. The model densities of various species are typically in good agreement with the observations except vertical profiles in the stratosphere that are steeper than the CIRS limb data. (A model with eddy diffusion that facilitates fitting to the CIRS limb data is considered as well.) The CO densities are supported by the O⁺ flux from Saturn's magnetosphere. The ionosphere includes a peak at 80 km formed by the cosmic rays, steplike layers at 500-700 and 700-900 km and a peak at 1060 km (SZA = 60°). Nighttime densities of major ions agree with the INMS data. Ion chemistry dominates in the production of bicyclic aromatic hydrocarbons above 600 km. The model estimates of heavy positive and negative ions are in reasonable agreement with the Cassini results. The major haze production is in the reactions C₆H + C₄H₂, C₃N + C₄H₂, and condensation of hydrocarbons below 100 km. Overall, precipitation rate of the photochemical products is equal to 4-7 kg cm⁻² Byr⁻¹ (50-90 m Byr⁻¹ while the global-mean depth of the organic sediments is ∼3 m). Escape rates of methane and hydrogen are 2.9 and 1.4 kg cm⁻² Byr⁻¹, respectively. The model does not support the low C/N ratio observed by the Huygens ACP in Titan's haze.     

Stochastic Models of Hot Planetary and Satellite Coronas: Suprathermal Nitrogen in Titan's Upper Atmosphere

The processes of dissociation and dissociative ionization of molecular nitrogen by solar UV radiation and by the accompanying flux of photoelectrons, as well as sputtering of the atmosphere by fluxes of magnetospheric ions and pick-up ions, are the main sources of translationally excited (hot, or suprathermal) nitrogen atoms and molecules in Titan's upper atmosphere. Since Titan does not possess an intrinsic magnetic field, ions from Saturn's magnetosphere can penetrate into the outer layers of Titan's atmosphere and sputter atoms and molecules from the atmosphere in momentum-transfer and charge exchange collisions. Atmospheric sputtering by corotating nitrogen ions and carbon-containing pick-up ions, as well as photodissociation-related losses, was considered previously by Lammer and Bauer (1993) and Shematovich et al. (2001, 2003). In this paper we investigate the processes of the formation and evolution of the fraction of suprathermal nitrogen atoms and molecules in the transition region of Titan's upper atmosphere using the previously developed Monte Carlo model for hot satellite and planetary coronas (Shematovich, 1999, 2004). It is established that the suprathermal nitrogen fraction in the transition region of Titan's upper atmosphere includes nitrogen atoms and molecules but the suprathermal nitrogen concentration is relatively small owing to high rates of escape from the atmosphere and to the efficient thermalization of suprathermal nitrogen at the altitudes of the relatively dense lower thermosphere. However, the scale height for suprathermal nitrogen in the transition region is much higher than that for the ambient atmospheric gas. Therefore, suprathermal nitrogen becomes one of the dominant components in the outer exosphere.     

Structured ionospheric outflow during the Cassini T55-T59 Titan flybys

During the final three of the five consecutive and similar Cassini Titan flybys T55-T59 we observe a region characterized by high plasma densities (electron densities of 1-8 cm⁻³) in the tail/nightside of Titan. This region is observed progressively farther downtail from pass to pass and is interpreted as a plume of ionospheric plasma escaping Titan, which appears steady in both location and time. The ions in this plasma plume are moving in the direction away from Titan and are a mixture of both light and heavy ions with composition revealing that their origin are in Titan's ionosphere, while the electrons are more isotropically distributed. Magnetic field measurements indicate the presence of a current sheet at the inner edge of this region. We discuss the mechanisms behind this outflow, and suggest that it could be caused by ambipolar diffusion, magnetic moment pumping or dispersive Alfvén waves.     

Analysis of Titan's neutral upper atmosphere from Cassini Ion Neutral Mass Spectrometer measurements

In this paper we present an in-depth study of the distributions of various neutral species in Titan's upper atmosphere, between 950 and 1500 km for abundant species (N₂, CH₄, H₂) and between 950 and 1200 km for other minor species. Our analysis is based on a large sample of Cassini/INMS (Ion Neutral Mass Spectrometer) measurements in the CSN (Closed Source Neutral) mode, obtained during 15 close flybys of Titan. To untangle the overlapping cracking patterns, we adopt Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) to determine simultaneously the densities of different species. Except for N₂, CH₄, H₂ and ⁴⁰Ar (as well as their isotopes), all species present density enhancements measured during the outbound legs. This can be interpreted as a result of wall effects, which could be either adsorption/desorption of these molecules or heterogeneous surface chemistry of the associated radicals on the chamber walls. In this paper, we provide both direct inbound measurements assuming ram pressure enhancement only and abundances corrected for wall adsorption/desorption based on a simple model to reproduce the observed time behavior. Among all minor species of photochemical interest, we have firm detections of C₂H₂, C₂H₄, C₂H₆, CH₃C₂H, C₄H₂, C₆H₆, CH₃CN, HC₃N, C₂N₂ and NH₃ in Titan's upper atmosphere. Upper limits are given for other minor species.The globally averaged distributions of N₂, CH₄ and H₂ are each modeled with the diffusion approximation. The N₂ profile suggests an average thermospheric temperature of 151 K. The CH₄ and H₂ profiles constrain their fluxes to be and , referred to Titan's surface. Both fluxes are significantly higher than the Jeans escape values. The INMS data also suggest horizontal/diurnal variations of temperature and neutral gas distribution in Titan's thermosphere. The equatorial region, the ramside, as well as the nightside hemisphere of Titan appear to be warmer and present some evidence for the depletion of light species such as CH₄. Meridional variations of some heavy species are also observed, with a trend of depletion toward the north pole. Though some of the above variations might be interpreted by either the solar-driven models or auroral-driven models, a physical scenario that reconciles all the observed horizontal/diurnal variations in a consistent way is still missing. With a careful evaluation of the effect of restricted sampling, some of the features shown in the INMS data are more likely to be observational biases.     

Energy deposition of pickup ions and heating of Titan's atmosphere

The deposition of energy, escape of atomic and molecular nitrogen and heating of the upper atmosphere of Titan are studied using a Direct Simulation Monte Carlo method. It is found that the globally averaged flux of deflected magnetospheric atomic nitrogen ions and molecular pickup ions deposit more energy in Titan's upper atmosphere than solar radiation. The energy deposition in this region determines the atmospheric loss and the production of the nitrogen neutral torus. The temperature structure near the exobase is also calculated. It is found that, due to the inclusion of the molecular pickup ions more energy is deposited closer to the exobase than assumed in earlier plasma ion heating calculations. Although the temperature at the exobase is only a few degrees larger than it is at depth, the density above the exobase is enhanced by the incident plasma.     

Experimental simulation of Titan's atmosphere: Detection of ammonia and ethylene oxide

For several years now, an experimental simulation of Titan's atmosphere has been on going at LISA. A cold plasma is established in a gas mixture representative of the atmosphere of the satellite. In these experiments, more than 70 organic compounds have been identified, including the first identification in this type of experimental simulation of C₄N₂ already detected in its solid form on Titan, which suggests that the setup correctly mimics the chemistry of Titan's atmosphere.We have carried out the first experimental simulation including O-containing compounds in order to study the influence of the presence of CO on the chemical behavior of Titan's atmosphere. With the help of gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and infrared spectroscopy (IRS) we can thus determine which minor species still undetected in Titan's atmosphere are likely to be present and understand the complex chemistry of the atmosphere of this satellite. Surprisingly we have identified unpredicted O-containing gaseous compounds, mainly ethylene oxide (also named oxirane, C₂H₄O). This molecule has been observed in the interstellar medium by observation in the millimeter region (Astrophys. J. 489 (1997) 553; Astron. Astrophys. 337 (1998) 275). On the contrary, the predicted O-compounds (formaldehyde and methanol) have not been identified in this experiment. Furthermore, we have identified NH₃ in the gaseous products with an initial mixture of N₂ (98%) and CH₄ (2%).The paper describes the experimental device used in this work, in particular the IRS and GC–MS techniques. We also comment the results related to the detection of the O-containing compounds and NH₃ and their implications on our knowledge of the chemistry of Titan's atmosphere and on the retrieval of the future Titan data expected from Cassini-Huygens.     

High-altitude charged aerosols in the atmosphere of Titan

Observations by several instruments onboard the Cassini spacecraft revealed the existence of heavy hydrocarbon and nitrile species with masses of several thousand atomic mass units in the ionosphere of Titan. These very large molecules are in fact aerosols. The goal of this paper is to compute the concentrations of the charged aerosols in the upper atmosphere (950-1200 km) of Titan. The charging of these aerosols has been studied using the charge balance equations, where positive ions, negative ions, electrons, neutral and charged aerosols are included. Number concentrations of charged aerosols are compared with those observed by the Cassini instruments. The present work estimates the aerosol mass density as 1-10 kg/m³, which is within the predicted range. The results show that the aerosols must be smaller than 10 nm in order to have reasonable agreement with observations by the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer.     

Ionization by cosmic rays of the atmosphere of Titan

Cosmic ray radiation is the main mechanism for ionizing the lower atmosphere of Titan. Their higher penetration power, in comparison with solar photons, allows cosmic rays to penetrate deep into the atmosphere of Titan, ionizing the neutral molecules and generating an ionosphere with an electron density peak, placed at around 90 km, similar in magnitude to the ionospheric peak produced by solar radiation in the upper atmosphere. In the lower atmosphere, the electron density profile, in the absence of a magnetic field, depends mainly on the modulation of cosmic rays by the solar wind and on the nature of the ionizable particles. We present here the first results of a new numerical model developed to calculate the concentration of electrons and most abundant ions in the Titan lower atmosphere. The present knowledge of Titan’s atmosphere permits us to include new neutral and ionic species, such as oxygen derivates, in a more detailed ion-chemistry calculation than previous lower ionospheric models of Titan. The electron density peaks at 90 km with a magnitude of 2150 cm⁻³. The ion distribution obtained predicts that cluster cations and hydrocarbon cations are the most abundant ions below and above the electron density peak, respectively. We also discuss the effect of solar activity at the distance of the Saturn orbit on the spectrum of the cosmic particles. We obtain that from solar minimum to solar maximum the ionization rate at the energy deposition peak changes by a factor of 1.2 at 70 km, and by a factor of 2.6 at altitudes as high as 400 km. The electron density at the concentration peak changes by a factor of 1.1 at 90 km, and by a factor of 1.6 at 400 km.     

Saturn's magnetospheric interaction with Titan as defined by Cassini encounters T9 and T18: New results

We present new results of Cassini's T9 flyby with complementary observations from T18. Based on Cassini plasma spectrometer (CAPS) and Cassini magnetometer (MAG), compositional evidence shows the upstream flow for both T9 and T18 appears composed of light ions (H⁺ and H₂⁺), with external pressures ∼30 times lower than that for the earlier TA flyby where heavy ions dominated the magnetospheric plasma. When describing the plasma heating and sputtering of Titan's atmosphere, T9 and T18 can be considered interactions of low magnetospheric energy input. On the other hand, T5, when heavy ion fluxes are observed to be higher than typical (i.e., TA), represents the limiting case of high magnetospheric energy input to Titan's upper atmosphere. Anisotropy estimates of the upstream flow are 1<T_⊥/T_‖<3 and the flow is perpendicular to B, indicative of local picked up ions from Titan's H and H₂ coronae extending to Titan's Hill sphere radius. Beyond this distance the corona forms a neutral torus that surrounds Saturn. The T9 flyby unexpectedly resulted in observation of two “wake” crossings referred to as Events 1 and 2. Event 2 was evidently caused by draped magnetosphere field lines, which are scavenging pickup ions from Titan's induced magnetopause boundary with outward flux ∼2×10⁶ ions/cm²/s. The composition of this out flow is dominated by H₂⁺ and H⁺ ions. Ionospheric flow away from Titan with ion flux ∼7×10⁶ ion/cm²/s is observed for Event 1. In between Events 1 and 2 are high energy field aligned flows of magnetosphere protons that may have been accelerated by the convective electric field across Titan's topside ionosphere. T18 observations are much closer to Titan than T9, allowing one to probe this type of interaction down to altitudes ∼950 km. Comparisons with previously reported hybrid simulations are made.     

Influence of neutral transport on ion chemistry uncertainties in Titan ionosphere

Models of Titan ionospheric chemistry have shown that ion densities depend strongly on the neutral composition. The turbulent diffusion transport conditions, as modeled by eddy coefficients, can spectacularly affect the uncertainty on predicted neutral densities. In order to evaluate the error budget on ion densities predicted by photochemical models, we perform uncertainty propagation of neutral densities by Monte Carlo sampling and assess their sensitivity to two turbulent diffusion profiles, corresponding to the extreme profiles at high altitudes described in the literature. A strong sensitivity of the ion density uncertainties to transport is observed, generally more important than to ion–molecule reaction parameters themselves. This highlights the necessity to constrain eddy diffusion profiles for Titan ionosphere, which should progressively be done thanks to the present and future measurements of the orbiter Cassini.     

The role of organic haze in Titan's atmospheric chemistry: II. Effect of heterogeneous reaction to the hydrogen budget and chemical composition of the atmosphere

One of the key components controlling the chemical composition and climatology of Titan's atmosphere is the removal of reactive atomic hydrogen from the atmosphere. A proposed process of the removal of atomic hydrogen is the heterogeneous reaction with organic aerosol. In this study, we investigate the effect of heterogeneous reactions in Titan's atmospheric chemistry using new measurements of the heterogeneous reaction rate [Sekine, Y., Imanaka, H., Matsui, T., Khare, B.N., Bakes, E.L.O., McKay, C.P., Sugita, S., 2008. Icarus 194, 186-200] in a one-dimensional photochemical model. Our results indicate that 60-75% of the atomic hydrogen in the stratosphere and mesosphere are consumed by the heterogeneous reactions. This result implies that the heterogeneous reactions on the aerosol surface may predominantly remove atomic hydrogen in Titan's stratosphere and mesosphere. The results of our calculation also indicate that a low concentration of atomic hydrogen enhances the concentrations of unsaturated complex organics, such as C₄H₂ and phenyl radical, by more than two orders in magnitude around 400 km in altitude. Such an increase in unsaturated species may induce efficient haze production in Titan's mesosphere and upper stratosphere. These results imply a positive feedback mechanism in haze production in Titan's atmosphere. The increase in haze production would affect the chemical composition of the atmosphere, which might induce further haze production. Such a positive feedback could tend to dampen the loss and supply cycles of CH₄ due to an episodic CH₄ release into Titan's atmosphere.     

Model computations of Schumann resonance on Titan

We model the global electromagnetic (Schumann) resonance in the atmosphere of Titan. Parameters of conductivity of the lower ionosphere were implemented taken from existing aeronomic models of Titan's atmosphere. Two exponential conductivity profiles were constructed: one of them suggests favorable conditions for Schumann resonance and the other models considerable attenuation in the ionospheric plasma. Peak frequencies and Q-factors of resonance were computed as well as resonance spectra for the signals arriving from individual vertical lightning discharges and from strokes uniformly distributed over the planet. The models show that detection of Schumann resonance on Titan is feasible, especially in favorable conditions. Possible applications of Schumann resonance in the studies of Titan's lightning activity are outlined.     

Coupling photochemistry with haze formation in Titan's atmosphere, Part II: Results and validation with Cassini/Huygens data

The new one-dimensional radiative-convective/photochemical/microphysical model described in Part I is applied to the study of Titan's atmospheric processes that lead to haze formation. Our model generates the haze structure from the gaseous species photochemistry. Model results are presented for the species vertical concentration profiles, haze formation and its radiative properties, vertical temperature/density profiles and geometric albedo. These are validated against Cassini/Huygens observations and other ground-based and space-borne measurements. The model reproduces well most of the latest measurements from the Cassini/Huygens instruments for the chemical composition of Titan's atmosphere and the vertical profiles of the observed species. For the haze production we have included pathways that are based on pure hydrocarbons, pure nitriles and hydrocarbon/nitrile copolymers. From these, the nitrile and copolymer pathways provide the stronger contribution, in agreement with the results from the ACP instrument, which support the incorporation of nitrogen in the pyrolized haze structures. Our haze model reveals a new second major peak in the vertical profile of haze production rate between 500 and 900 km. This peak is produced by the copolymer family used and has important ramifications for the vertical atmospheric temperature profile and geometric albedo. In particular, the existence of this second peak determines the vertical profile of haze extinction. Our model results have been compared with the DISR retrieved haze extinction profiles and are found to be in very good agreement. We have also incorporated in our model heterogeneous chemistry on the haze particles that converts atomic hydrogen to molecular hydrogen. The resultant H₂ profile is closer to the INMS measurements, while the vertical profile of the diacetylene formed is found to be closer to that of the CIRS profile when this heterogenous chemistry is included.     

Negative ion chemistry in Titan's upper atmosphere

The Electron Spectrometer (ELS), one of the sensors making up the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) revealed the existence of numerous negative ions in Titan's upper atmosphere. The observations at closest approach (∼1000 km) show evidence for negatively charged ions up to ∼10,000 amu/q, as well as two distinct peaks at 22±4 and 44±8 amu/q, and maybe a third one at 82±14 amu/q. We present the first ionospheric model of Titan including negative ion chemistry. We find that dissociative electron attachment to neutral molecules (mostly HCN) initiates the formation of negative ions. The negative charge is then transferred to more acidic molecules such as HC₃N, HC₅N or C₄H₂. Loss occurs through associative detachment with radicals (H and CH₃). We attribute the three low mass peaks observed by ELS to CN⁻, C₃N⁻/C₄H⁻ and C₅N⁻. These species are the first intermediates in the formation of the even larger negative ions observed by ELS, which are most likely the precursors to the aerosols observed at lower altitudes.     

Ejection of nitrogen from Titan's atmosphere by magnetospheric ions and pick-up ions

A 3-D Monte Carlo model is used to describe the ejection of N and N₂ from Titan due to the interaction of Saturn's magnetospheric N⁺ ions and molecular pick-up ions with its N₂ atmosphere. Based on estimates of the ion flux into Titan's corona, atmospheric sputtering is an important source of both atomic and molecular nitrogen for the neutral torus and plasma in Saturn's outer magnetosphere, a region now being studied by the Cassini spacecraft.