Investigation of the Photochemistry in Saturn's Ring Shadowed Atmosphere: Production Rates of Key Atmospheric Molecules

Details Investigation of the Photochemistry in Saturn's Ring Shadowed Atmosphere: Production Rates of Key Atmospheric Molecules Investigation of the Photochemistry in Saturn's Ring Shadowed Atmosphere: Production Rates of Key Atmospheric Molecules

Oct 2011

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011epsc.conf.1710e&link_type=abstract

EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2011, held 2-7 October 2011 in Nantes, France. http://meetings.copernicus.org/epsc-dps2011, p.1710

Computer Science

Scientific paper

Cassini has been orbiting Saturn for well over six years. During this epoch, the ring shadow has moved from covering a relatively large portion of the northern hemisphere to covering a small region just south of the equator (see Figure 1). For example, at Saturn Orbit Insertion (SOI; July 1, 2004), the ring plane was inclined by ~24 degrees relative to the Sun-Saturn vector. At this time, the projection of the B-ring onto Saturn reached as far as 40ºN along the central meridian (~52ºN at the terminator). At its maximum extent, the ring shadow can reach as far as 48ºN (~58ºN at the terminator). The net result, is that the intensity of both ultraviolet and visible sunlight penetrating into any particular northern/southern latitude will vary depending on Saturn's tilt relative to the Sun and the optical thickness of each ring system (see Figure 2). Previous work [1] looked at the variation of the solar flux as a function of solar inclination, i.e. season (see Figure 3). The current work looks at the impact of the oscillating ring shadow on the photodissociation and production rates of key molecules in Saturn's stratosphere and upper troposphere over time. Beginning with methane, the impact on production and loss rates of the long-lived photochemical products leading to haze formation are examined at several latitudes over a Saturn year. We also look at the impacts on phosphine abundance, a disequilibrium species whose presence in the upper troposphere is a tracer of convection processes in the deep atmosphere. Comparison to the corresponding rates for the clear atmosphere and the effect of dynamical mixing will be presented.

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