The impact of methane thermodynamics on seasonal convection and circulation in a model Titan atmosphere

We identify mechanisms controlling the distribution of methane convection and large-scale circulation in a simplified, axisymmetric model atmosphere of Titan forced by gray radiation and moist (methane) convection. The large-scale overturning circulation, or Hadley cell, is global in latitudinal extent and provides fundamental control of precipitation and tropospheric winds. The precipitating, large-scale updraft regularly oscillates in latitude with seasons. The distance of greatest poleward excursion of the Hadley cell updraft is set by the mass of the convective layer of the atmosphere; convection efficiently communicates seasonal warming of the surface through the cold and dense lower atmosphere, increasing the heat capacity of the system. The presence of deep, precipitating convection introduces three effects relative to the case with no methane latent heating: (1) convection is narrowed and enhanced in the large-scale updraft of the Hadley cell; (2) the latitudinal amplitude of Hadley cell updraft oscillations is decreased; and (3) a time lag is introduced. These effects are observable in the location and timing of convective methane clouds in Titan’s atmosphere as a function of season. A comparison of simulations over a range of convective regimes with available observations suggest methane thermodynamic-dynamic feedback is important in the Titan climate.     

Hydrocarbon lakes on Titan

The Huygens Probe detected dendritic drainage-like features, methane clouds and a high surface relative humidity (∼50%) on Titan in the vicinity of its landing site [Tomasko, M.G., and 39 colleagues, 2005. Nature 438, 765-778; Niemann, H.B., and 17 colleagues, 2005. Nature 438, 779-784], suggesting sources of methane that replenish this gas against photo- and charged-particle chemical loss on short (10-100) million year timescales [Atreya, S.K., Adams, E.Y., Niemann, H.B., Demick-Montelara, J.E., Owen, T.C., Fulchignoni, M., Ferri, F., Wilson, E.H., 2006. Planet. Space Sci. In press]. On the other hand, Cassini Orbiter remote sensing shows dry and even desert-like landscapes with dunes [Lorenz, R.D., and 39 colleagues, 2006a. Science 312, 724-727], some areas worked by fluvial erosion, but no large-scale bodies of liquid [Elachi, C., and 34 colleagues, 2005. Science 308, 970-974]. Either the atmospheric methane relative humidity is declining in a steady fashion over time, or the sources that maintain the relative humidity are geographically restricted, small, or hidden within the crust itself. In this paper we explore the hypothesis that the present-day methane relative humidity is maintained entirely by lakes that cover a small part of the surface area of Titan. We calculate the required minimum surface area coverage of such lakes, assess the stabilizing influence of ethane, and the implications for moist convection in the atmosphere. We show that, under Titan's surface conditions, methane evaporates rapidly enough that shorelines of any existing lakes could potentially migrate by several hundred m to tens of km per year, rates that could be detected by the Cassini orbiter. We furthermore show that the high relative humidity of methane in Titan's lower atmosphere could be maintained by evaporation from lakes covering only 0.002-0.02 of the whole surface.     

The spectrum of titan in the far-infrared and microwave regions

The pressure-induced absorptions of gaseous nitrogen (N₂) and methane (CH₄) are computed on the basis of the collisional lineshape theory of G. Birnhaum and E.R. Cohen [Canad. J. Phys.54, 593–602 (1976)]. Laboratory data at 300 and 124°K for N₂ and at 296 and 195°K for CH₄ are used to determine the collisional time constant and their temperature dependence. The spectrum of Titan from the microwave to the far-infrared region (0.1–600 cm^?1) is then modeled using these opacities and a temperature profile of Titan's atmosphere derived from the Voyager 1 radio occultation experiment. The model atmosphere is composed of N₂ and CH₄, their relative proportions being determined by the vapor pressure law of CH₄. A model with gaseous opacity alone is ruled out by the far-infrared observations. An additional opacity, thought to be associated with a methane cloud, is confirmed. The effective temperature of Titan is estimated at T_e = 83.2 ± 1.4°K.     

The surface energy balance at the Huygens landing site and the moist surface conditions on Titan

The Huygens Probe provided a wealth of data concerning the atmosphere of Titan. It also provided tantalizing evidence of a small amount of surface liquid. We have developed a detailed surface energy balance for the Probe landing site. We find that the daily averaged non-radiative fluxes at the surface are 0.7 W m^?2, much larger than the global average value predicted by McKay et al. (1991) of 0.037 W m^?2. Considering the moist surface, the methane and ethane detected by the Probe from the surface is consistent with a ternary liquid of ethane, methane, and nitrogen present on the surface with mole fractions of methane, ethane, and nitrogen of 0.44, 0.34, and 0.22, respectively, and a total mass load of ～0.05 kg m^?2. If this liquid is included in the surface energy balance, only a small fraction of the non-radiative energy is due to latent heat release (～10^?3 W m^?2). If the amount of atmospheric ethane is less than 0.6×10^?5, the surface liquid is most likely evaporating over timescales of 5 Titan days, and the moist surface is probably a remnant of a recent precipitation event. If the surface liquid mass loading is increased to 0.5 kg m^?2, then the liquid lifetime increases to ～56 Titan days. Our modeling results indicate a dew cycle is unlikely, given that even when the diurnal variation of liquid is in equilibrium, the diurnal mass variation is only 3% of the total liquid. If we assume a high atmospheric mixing ratio of ethane (>0.6×10^?5), the precipitation of liquid is large (38 cm/Titan year for an ethane mixing ratio of 2×10^?5). Such a flux is many orders of magnitude in excess of the photochemical production rate of ethane.     

The atmosphere of Titan: An analysis of the Voyager 1 radio occultation measurements

Two coherently related radio signals transmitted from Voyager 1 at wavelengths of 13 cm (S-band) and 3.6 cm (X-band) were used to probe the equatorial atmosphere of Titan. The measurements were conducted during the occultation of the spacecraft by the satellite on November 12, 1980. An analysis of the differential dispersive frequency measurements did not reveal any ionization layers in the upper atmosphere of Titan. The resolution was approximately 3 × 10³ and 5 × 10³ electrons/cm³ near the evening and morning terminators, respectively. Abrupt signal changes observed at ingress and egress indicated a surface radius of 2575.0 ± 0.5 km, leading to a mean density of 1.881 ± 0.002 g cm^?3 for the satellite. The nondispersive data were used to derive profiles in height of the gas refractivity and microwave absorption in Titan's troposphere and stratosphere. No absorption was detected; the resolution was about 0.01 dB/km at the 13-cm wavelength. The gas refractivity data, which extend from the surface to about 200 km altitude, were interpreted in two different ways. In the first, it is assumed that N₂ makes up essentially all of the atmosphere, but with very small amounts of CH₄ and other hydrocarbons also present. This approach yielded a temperature and pressure at the surface of 94.0 ± 0.7°K and 1496 ± 20 mbar, respectively. The tropopause, which was detected near 42 km altitude, had a temperature of 71.4 ± 0.5°K and a pressure of about 130 mbar. Above the tropopause, the temperature increased with height, reaching 170 ± 15°K near the 200-km level. The maximum temperature lapse rate observed near the surface (1.38 ± 0.10°K/km) corresponds to the adiabatic value expected for a dry N₂ atmosphere—indicating that methane saturation did not occur in tbis region. Above the 3.5-km altitude level the lapse rate dropped abruptly to 0.9 ± 0.1°K/km and then decreased slowly with increasing altitude, crossing zero at the tropopause. For the N₂ atmospheric model, the lapse rate transition at the 3.5-km level appears to mark the boundary between a convective region near the surface having the dry adiabatic lapse rate, and a higher stable region in radiative equilibrium. In the second interpretation of the refractivity data, it is assumed, instead, that the 3.5 km altitude level corresponds to the bottom of a CH₄ cloud layer, and that N₂ and CH₄ are perfectly mixed below this level. These assumptions lead to an atmospheric model which below the clouds contains about 10% CH₄ by number density. The temperature near the surface is about 95°K. Arguments concerning the temperature lapse rates computed from the radio measurements appear to favor models in which methane forms at most a limited haze layer high in the troposphere.     

Titan under a red dwarf star and as a rogue planet: requirements for liquid methane

Titan has a surface temperature of 94 K and a surface pressure of 1.4 atmospheres. These conditions make it possible for liquid methane solutions to be present on the surface. Here, we consider how Titan could have liquid methane while orbiting around an M4 red dwarf star, and a special case of Titan orbiting the red dwarf star Gliese 581. Because light from a red dwarf star has a higher fraction of infrared than the Sun, more of the starlight will reach the surface of Titan because its atmospheric haze is more transparent to infrared wavelengths. If Titan was placed at a distance from a red dwarf star such that it received the same average flux as it receives from the Sun, we calculate the increased infrared fraction, which will warm surface temperatures by an additional ∼10 K. Compared to the Sun, red dwarf stars have less blackbody ultraviolet light but can have more Lyman α and particle radiation associated with flares. Thus depending on the details, the haze production may be much higher or much lower than for the current Titan. With the haze reduced by a factor of 100, Titan would have a surface temperature of 94 K at a distance of 0.23 AU from an M4 star and at a distance of 1.66 AU, for Gliese 581. If the haze is increased by a factor of 100 the distances become 0.08 and 0.6 AU for the M4-star and Gliese 581, respectively. As a rogue planet, with no incident stellar flux, Titan would need 1.6 W/m² of geothermal heat to maintain its current surface temperature, or an atmospheric opacity of 20× its present amount with 0.1 W/m² of geothermal heat. Thus Titan-like worlds beyond our solar system may provide environment supporting surface liquid methane.     

Thermal convection in the porous methane-soaked regolith of Titan: Investigation of stability

Titan is the only body, other than the Earth where liquid is present on the surface. In the present work we consider behavior of methane in the pores of Titan's regolith. Using numerical model we investigate quantitative conditions necessary for the onset of convection. We have found that the methane convection in Titan's regolith is possible. It can be expected in regions where the regolith has sufficiently high porosity, independently of the geothermal heat flux.     

Thermal structure of Uranus' atmosphere.

Application of a radiative-convective equilibrium model to the thermal structure of Uranus' atmosphere evaluates the role of hazes in the planet's stratospheric energy budget and places a lower limit on the internal energy flux. The model is constrained by Voyager and post-Voyager observations of the vertical aerosol and radiative active gas profiles. Our baseline model generally reproduces the observed tropospheric and stratospheric temperature profile. However, as in past studies, the model stratosphere from about 10(-3) to 10(-1) bar is too cold. We find that the observed stratospheric hazes do not warm this region appreciably and that any postulated hazes capable of warming the stratosphere sufficiently are inconsistent with Voyager and ground-based constraints. We explore the roles played by the stratospheric methane abundance, the H2 pressure-induced opacity, photochemical hazes, and C2H2, and C2H6 in controlling the temperature structure in this region. Assuming a vertical methane abundance profile consistent with that found by the Voyager UVS occultation observations, the model upper stratosphere, from 10 to 100 microbar, is also too cold. Radiation in the 7.8-micrometers band from a small abundance of hot methane in the lower thermosphere absorbed in this region can warm the atmosphere and bring models into closer agreement with observations. Finally, we find that internal heat fluxes < or approximately 60 erg cm-2 sec-1 are inconsistent with the observed tropospheric temperature profile.     

Greenhouse models of the atmosphere of titan

The greenhouse effect is calculated for a series of model atmospheres of Titan containing varying proportions of methane, hydrogen, helium, and ammonia. The pressure induced transitions of hydrogen and methane are the major sources of infrared opacity. For each model atmosphere we first computed its temperature structure with a radiative-convective equilibrium computer program and then generated its brightness temperature spectrum to compare with observed values. This comparison indicates that the methane-to-hydrogen ratio is 1_?.67⁺², the surface pressure is at least 0.4atm, and the surface temperature at least 150°K. In addition, except possibly close to the surface, the amount of ammonia is far less than the saturation vapor value. Large amounts of helium may also be present. Many of the successful model atmospheres have methane condensation clouds in the upper troposphere, which help reconcile spectroscopic gas abundances and the observed ultraviolet albedo of Titan with the gas amounts required for the greenhouse effect. The occurrence of large amounts of hydrogen may be a prerequisite for the occurrence of large amounts of methane in the atmosphere and vice versa. This hypothesis may help explain why Titan is the only satellite in our solar system known to have an atmosphere.     

Photochemistry of the atmosphere of Titan: comparison between model and observations

The photochemistry of simple molecules containing carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen atoms in the atmosphere of Titan has been investigated using updated chemical schemes and our own estimates of a number of key rate coefficients. Proper exospheric boundary conditions, vertical transport, and condensation processes at the tropopause have been incorporated into the model. It is argued that he composition, climatology, and evolution of Titan's atmosphere are controlled by five major processes: (a) photolysis and photosensitized dissociation of CH4; (b) conversion of H to H2 and escape of hydrogen; (c) synthesis of higher hydrocarbons; (d) coupling between nitrogen and hydrocarbons; (e) coupling between oxygen and hydrocarbons. Starting with N2, CH4, and H2O, and invoking interactions with ultraviolet sunlight, energetic electrons, and cosmic rays, the model satisfactorily accounts for the concentrations of minor species observed by the Voyager IRIS and UVS instruments. Photochemistry is responsible for converting the simpler atmospheric species into more complex organic compounds, which are subsequently condensed at the tropopause and deposited on the surface. Titan might have lost 5.6 x 10(4), 1.8 x 10(3), and 4.0 g cm-2, or the equivalent of 8, 0.25, and 5 x 10(-4) bars of CH4, N2, and CO, respectively, over geologic time. Implications of abiotic organic synthesis on Titan for the origin of life on Earth are briefly discussed.     

Laboratory studies of methane and ethane adsorption and nucleation onto organic particles: Application to Titan's clouds

Titan, Saturn's largest moon, has a thick nitrogen/methane atmosphere. The temperature and pressure conditions in Titan's atmosphere are such that the methane vapor should condense near the tropopause to form clouds. Several ground-based measurements have observed sparse cloud-like features in Titan's atmosphere, while the Cassini mission to Saturn has provided large scale images of the clouds. However, Titan's cloud formation conditions remain poorly constrained. Heterogeneous nucleation (from the vapor phase onto a solid or liquid aerosol surface) greatly enhances cloud formation relative to homogeneous nucleation. In order to elucidate the cloud formation mechanism near the tropopause, we have performed laboratory measurements of the adsorption of methane and ethane onto solid organic particles (tholins) representative of Titan's photochemical haze. We find that monolayers of methane adsorb onto tholin particles at saturation ratios less than unity. We also find that solid methane nucleates onto the adsorbed methane at a saturation ratio of S=1.07±0.008. This implies that Titan's methane clouds should form easily. This is consistent with recent measurements of the column of methane ruling out excessive methane supersaturation. In addition, we find ethane adsorbs onto tholin particles in a metastable phase prior to nucleation. However, ethane nucleation onto the adsorbed ethane occurs at a relatively high saturation ratio of S=1.36±0.08. These findings are consistent with the recent report of polar ethane clouds in Titan's lower stratosphere.     

Clathrate and ammonia hydrates at high pressure: Application to the origin of methane on Titan

The origin of methane at the present surface of Titan is modeled in light of new high-pressure phase diagrams of ammonia-water compounds and clathrate hydrate. Using recently published experimental data on the ammonia-water system at kilobar pressures, temperature-composition slices of the phase diagram are constructed at a series of pressures up to 12 kbar. A new phase of ammonia dihydrate is proposed and incorporated in the diagrams, to allow consistency with low-pressure data. These results, along with the high-pressure phase diagram of methane clathrate hydrate recently caculated by J. I. Lunine and D. J. Stevenson (1985a, Astrophys. J. Suppl. 58, 493–531) are applied to a model for the origin of the methane presently on the surface of Titan. Using simple bounds on the accretional temperatures and postaccretional state of an ammonia-rich Titan, we show that an unstable interior configuration is likely immediately after accretion, in which a rock layer is positioned above a lower-density rock-ice core. When core overturns begins the methane in the core, which is released from the clathrate structure by virtue of the high pressures, migrates upward. A model for the cooling and freezing of an ammonia-water ocean in the upper mantle of Titan, based on the phase diagram, is applied and it is concluded that insufficient liquid water exists to retrap all of the upwelling methane as clathrate. However, alternative interpretations of the phase diagram permit an ocean thick enough to entrap the methane. For the bulk of the range of plausible accretion models, enough methane is available from the interior to account for the present-day surface hydrocarbon abundance; however, the amount of nitrogen extruded in this model may be much smaller.     

The structure of Titan’s atmosphere from Cassini radio occultations

We present results from the two radio occultations of the Cassini spacecraft by Titan in 2006, which probed mid-southern latitudes. Three of the ingress and egress soundings occurred within a narrow latitude range, 31-34°S near the surface, and the fourth at 52.8°S. Temperature-altitude profiles for all four occultation soundings are presented, and compared with the results of the Voyager 1 radio occultation (Lindal, G.F., Wood, G.E., Hotz, H.B., Sweetnam, D.N., Eshleman, V.R., Tyler, G.L. [1983]. Icarus 53, 348-363), the HASI instrument on the Huygens descent probe (Fulchignoni, M. et al. [2005]. Nature 438, 785-791), and Cassini CIRS results (Flasar, F.M. et al. [2005]. Science 308, 975-978; Achterberg, R.K., Conrath, B.J., Gierasch, P.J., Flasar, F.M., Nixon, C.A. [2008b]. Icarus 194, 263-277). Sources of error in the retrieved temperature-altitude profiles are also discussed, and a major contribution is from spacecraft velocity errors in the reconstructed ephemeris. These can be reduced by using CIRS data at 300 km to make along-track adjustments of the spacecraft timing. The occultation soundings indicate that the temperatures just above the surface at 31-34°S are about 93 K, while that at 53°S is about 1 K colder. At the tropopause, the temperatures at the lower latitudes are all about 70 K, while the 53°S profile is again 1 K colder. The temperature lapse rate in the lowest 2 km for the two ingress (dawn) profiles at 31 and 33°S lie along a dry adiabat except within ∼200 m of the surface, where a small stable inversion occurs. This could be explained by turbulent mixing with low viscosity near the surface. The egress profile near 34°S shows a more complex structure in the lowest 2 km, while the egress profile at 53°S is more stable.     

Experimental laboratory simulation of Titan’s atmosphere: aerosols and gas phase

The discovery that Titan, the largest satellite of Saturn, has an atmosphere and that methane is a significant constituent of it, was the starting point for a systematic study of Titan’s atmospheric organic chemistry. Since then, the results from numerous ground-based observations and two flybys of Titan, by Voyager I and II, have led to experimental laboratory simulation studies and photochemical and physical modeling. All these works have provided a more detailed picture of Titan. We report here a continuation of such a study performing an experimental laboratory simulation of Titan’s atmospheric chemistry, and considering the two physical phases involved: gases and aerosols. Concerning the gaseous phase, we report the first detection of C₄N₂ and we propose possible atmospheric abundances for 70 organic compounds on Titan’s upper atmosphere. Concerning the solid phase, we have characterized aerosol analogues synthesized in conditions close to those of Titan’s environment, using elemental analysis, pyrolysis, solubility studies and infrared spectroscopy.     

Titan's atmospheric engine: an overview

Heating occurs in Titan's stratosphere from the absorption of incident solar radiation by methane and aerosols. About 10% of the incident sunlight reaches Titan's surface and causes heating there. Thermal radiation redistributes heat within the atmosphere and cools to space. The resulting vertical temperature profile is stable against convection and a state of radiative equilibrium is established. Equating theoretical and observed temperature profiles enables an empirical determination of the vertical distribution of thermal opacity. A uniformly mixed aerosol is responsible for most of the opacity in the stratosphere, whereas collision-induced absorption of gases is the main contributor in the troposphere. Occasional clouds are observed in the troposphere in spite of the large degrees of methane supersaturation found there. Photochemistry converts CH₄ and N₂ into more complex hydrocarbons and nitriles in the stratosphere and above. Thin ice clouds of trace organics are formed in the winter and early spring polar regions of the lower stratosphere. Precipitating ice particles serve as condensation sites for supersaturated methane vapor in the troposphere below, resulting in lowered methane degrees of supersaturation in the polar regions. Latitudinal variations of stratospheric temperature are seasonal, and lag instantaneous response to solar irradiation by about one season for two reasons: (1) an actual instantaneous thermal response to a latitudinal distribution of absorbing gases, themselves out of phase with the sun by about one season, and (2) a sluggish dynamical response of the stratosphere to the latitudinal transport of angular momentum, induced by radiative heating and cooling. Mean vertical abundances of stratospheric organics and aerosols are determined primarily by atmospheric chemistry and condensation, whereas latitudinal distributions are more influenced by meridional circulations. In addition to preferential scavenging by precipitating ice particles from above, the polar depletion of supersaturated methane results from periodic scavenging by short-lived tropospheric clouds, coupled with the steady poleward march of the continuously drying atmosphere due to meridional transport.     

Methane on Uranus: The case for a compact CH4 cloud layer at low latitudes and a severe CH4 depletion at high-latitudes based on re-analysis of Voyager occultation measurements and STIS spectroscopy

Lindal et al. (Lindal, G.F., Lyons, J.R., Sweetnam, D.N., Eshleman, V.R., Hinson, D.P. [1987]. J. Geophys. Res. 92 (11), 14987-15001) presented a range of temperature and methane profiles for Uranus that were consistent with 1986 Voyager radio occultation measurements of refractivity versus altitude. A localized refractivity slope variation near 1.2 bars was interpreted to be the result of a condensed methane cloud layer. However, models fit to near-IR spectra found particle concentrations much deeper in the atmosphere, in the 1.5-3 bar range (Sromovsky, L.A., Irwin, P.G.J., Fry, P.M. [2006]. Icarus 182, 577-593; Sromovsky, L.A., Fry, P.M. [2010]. Icarus 210, 211-229; Irwin, P.G.J., Teanby, N.A., Davis, G.R. [2010]. Icarus 208, 913-926), and a recent analysis of STIS spectra argued for a model in which aerosol particles formed diffusely distributed hazes, with no compact condensation layer (Karkoschka, E., Tomasko, M. [2009]. Icarus 202, 287-309). To try to reconcile these results, we reanalyzed the occultation observations with the He volume mixing ratio reduced from 0.15 to 0.116, which is near the edge of the 0.033 uncertainty range given by Conrath et al. (Conrath, B., Hanel, R., Gautier, D., Marten, A., Lindal, G. [1987]. J. Geophys. Res. 92 (11), 15003-15010). This allowed us to obtain saturated mixing ratios within the putative cloud layer and to reach above-cloud and deep methane mixing ratios compatible with STIS spectral constraints. Using a 5-layer vertical aerosol model with two compact cloud layers in the 1-3 bar region, we find that the best fit pressure for the upper compact layer is virtually identical to the pressure range inferred from the occultation analysis for a methane mixing ratio near 4% at 5°S. This strongly argues that Uranus does indeed have a compact methane cloud layer. In addition, our cloud model can fit the latitudinal variations in spectra between 30°S and 20°N, using the same profiles of temperature and methane mixing ratio. But closer to the pole, the model fails to provide accurate fits without introducing an increasingly strong upper tropospheric depletion of methane at increased latitudes, in rough agreement with the trend identified by Karkoschka and Tomasko (Karkoschka, E., Tomasko, M. [2009]. Icarus 202, 287-309).     

Thermal convection in the porous methane-soaked regolith in Titan: Finite amplitude convection

Titan is the only body, beside the Earth, where liquid is present on the surface. This paper is aimed to show the properties of possible convection in a porous regolith on Titan. In our previous work (Czechowski, L., Kossacki, K.J. [2009]. Icarus 202, 599–607) we showed, that the Rayleigh number Ra can exceed its critical value Ra_c. Hence, the convective motion of liquid filling pores in the regolith is likely for Titan relevant parameters. In the present work we investigate the properties of finite amplitude convection, i.e. for Ra > Ra_cr. We study the basic properties of the steady state solution, the Nusselt number, the density of the heat flow and the average temperatures. Evolution of the convection is also considered. We conclude that any reasonable thermal model of Titan’s regolith should take into account the possibility of the considered convection. We discuss also possibility of identification of this convection (or its consequences in the form of evaporates) by the Cassini and possible future spacecrafts.     

Numerical simulation of the general circulation of the atmosphere of Titan

The atmospheric circulation of Titan is investigated with a general circulation model. The representation of the large-scale dynamics is based on a grid point model developed and used at Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique for climate studies. The code also includes an accurate representation of radiative heating and cooling by molecular gases and haze as well as a parametrization of the vertical turbulent mixing of momentum and potential temperature. Long-term simulations of the atmospheric circulation are presented. Starting from a state of rest, the model spontaneously produces a strong superrotation with prograde equatorial winds (i.e., in the same sense as the assumed rotation of the solid body) increasing from the surface to reach 100 m sec-1 near the 1-mbar pressure level. Those equatorial winds are in very good agreement with some indirect observations, especially those of the 1989 occultation of Star 28-Sgr by Titan. On the other hand, the model simulates latitudinal temperature contrasts in the stratosphere that are significantly weaker than those observed by Voyager 1 which, we suggest, may be partly due to the nonrepresentation of the spatial and temporal variations of the abundances of molecular species and haze. We present diagnostics of the simulated atmospheric circulation underlying the importance of the seasonal cycle and a tentative explanation for the creation and maintenance of the atmospheric superrotation based on a careful angular momentum budget.     

Galactic cosmic rays and N2 dissociation on Titan

The electromagnetic and particle cascade resulting from the absorption of galactic cosmic rays in the atmosphere of Titan is shown to be an important mechanism for driving the photochemistry at pressures of 1 to 50 mbar in the atmosphere. In particular, the cosmic ray cascade dissociates N₂, a process necessary for the synthesis of nitrogen organics such as HCN. The important interactions of the cosmic ray cascade with the atmosphere are discussed. The N₂ excitation and dissociation rates and the ionization rates of the principal atmospheric constituents are computed for a Titan model atmosphere that is consistent with Voyager 1 observations. It is suggested that HCN may be formed efficiently in the lower atmosphere through the photodissociation of methylamine. It is also argued that models of nitrogen and hydrocarbon photochemistry in the lower atmosphere of Titan should include the absorption of galactic cosmic rays as an important energy source.     

Meteorological assessment of the surface temperatures on Titan: constraints on the surface type

The latitudinal profile of near-surface air temperature on Titan retrieved by Voyager 1 has been difficult to understand and raised several speculations about possible exotic processes that might be occurring near Titan's surface, while the thermal properties of the surface itself are unknown. This study systematically investigates the seasonal and spatial variation of the surface temperature and air temperature in the lower troposphere by a 3-dimensional general circulation model for different putative surface types (porous icy regolith, rock-ice mixture, hydrocarbon lakes). For any viable surface type the surface temperature is unlikely to be constant through the year and should more or less vary seasonally and even diurnally, most likely by a few K. Recent observations of tropospheric clouds may be evidence of seasonal variation of the surface temperature and the model predicts in the case of solid surface the development of a convective layer with superadiabatic lapse rates near the surface exactly at those latitudes and seasons where clouds have been identified. The latitudinal profile of the surface temperature retrieved from Voyager 1 infrared spectra can be explained without invoking exotic effects, provided the thermal inertia of the surface is relatively small and/or the surface albedo is low. A dominance of water ice (high thermal inertia and high albedo) at the surface is unfavorable to reproduce the observation. The latitudinal gradient of the surface temperature is particularly large at the hydrocarbon lake surface due to low albedo and small surface drag. Local anomalies of the surface albedo or surface thermal inertia are likely to cause substantial inhomogeneities of the surface temperature. Quasi-permanent accumulation of stratospheric haze at both poles would create a perennial equator-to-pole contrast of the surface temperature, but also a substantially lower global-mean surface temperature due to an enhanced anti-greenhouse effect in summer. The air temperature in the lower troposphere exhibits a tiny latitudinal gradient and a pole-to-pole gradient due to the presence of a pole-to-pole Hadley circulation, indicating that the temperature within the planetary boundary layer may exhibit a vertical profile characteristic of season, location and scenario. There may be a shallow near-surface inversion layer in cold seasons and a shallow convective layer in warm seasons.