Other
Scientific paper
Sep 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008dps....40.3113a&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #40, #31.13; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 40, p.448
Other
Scientific paper
Vertical profiles of the near-equatorial zonal wind and temperature extending from Titan's surface up to the 3 hPa level, as fitted to Huygens DWE and HASI data, are analyzed in terms of the implied buoyant stratification, Richardson number, and atmospheric angular momentum structure. The updated stability analysis accounts for the competing effects on the Brunt-Vaisala frequency of the non-ideal compressibility of nitrogen and the layered molecular weight and possible moist saturation of methane. The unanticipated strong reverse shear in the zonal wind measured just above the tropopause implies a remarkable piecewise-linear variation in the vertical distribution of the angular momentum density, and is likely diagnostic of mixing processes responsible for the maintenance of Titan's atmospheric super-rotation. At the same time, the much weaker zonal wind within the lowest two scale heights of the troposphere suggests the realization of a geostrophic sub-layer apparently intermediate between the Earth and Venus circulation regimes. Depending on the degree of methane saturation and the resulting enforcement of a moist adiabat, the smallness of the buoyant stratification of the lower troposphere may be commensurate with its maintenance by baroclinic adjustment processes. Together with the thermal wind equation, the limiting constraint of zero potential vorticity for the onset of slantwise convection, as apparently supported within the low-to-mid latitude regions of Earth, Mars, and Venus, implies a bounding envelope for Titan's meridional distribution of angular momentum, to be tested against the analysis of the thermal profiles obtained at other latitudes by radio occultation.
Allison Michael
Atkinson David H.
Bird Michael K.
Dutta-Roy Robindro
DWE Cassini/Huygens
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