|
|||||
|
|
A tropical haze band in Titan’s stratosphere |
|
| Authors: | R de Kok PGJ Irwin S Vinatier F Tosi S Osprey ML Moriconi |
| Institution: | a SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Sorbonnelaan 2, 3584 CA Utrecht, The Netherlands b Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Clarendon Laboratory, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK c Observatoire de Paris, LESIA, Meudon F-92195, France d Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, UMR 8109, Paris F-75005, France e INAF-IFSI, Via Fosso del Cavaliere 100, I-00133 Rome, Italy f Escola Superior de Tecnologia e Gestão do Instituto Politécnico de Leiria, Leiria, Portugal g CNR-ISAC, Via Fosso del Cavaliere 100, I-00133 Rome, Italy |
| Abstract: | Inspection of near-infrared images from Cassini’s Imaging Science Subsystem and Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer have revealed a new feature in Titan’s haze structure: a narrow band of increased scattering by haze south of the equator. The band seems to indicate a region of very limited mixing in the lower stratosphere, which causes haze particles to be trapped there. This could explain the sharp separation between the two hemispheres, known as the north-south asymmetry, seen in images. The separation of the two hemispheres can also be seen in the stratosphere above 150 km using infrared spectra measured by Cassini’s Composite Infrared Spectrometer. Titan’s behaviour in the lower tropical stratosphere is remarkably similar to that of the Earth’s tropical stratosphere, which hints at possible common dynamical processes. |
| Keywords: | Titan Atmospheres Composition Infrared observations |
| 本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录！ | |