Computer Science
Scientific paper
Nov 1997
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1997icar..130...16l&link_type=abstract
Icarus, Volume 130, Issue 1, pp. 16-35.
Computer Science
8
Scientific paper
A one-dimensional photochemical steady state model is used to study the vertical distribution of different gas species in the neutral atmosphere of Pluto. The major species is supposed to be N_2 with CH_4 as the leading minor species with a mixing ratio between 3.7 x 10^-3 and 7.4 x 10^-3, depending on the pressure and temperature on the surface. As a result of photolytic reactions, a number of hydrocarbons and nitriles are mainly produced in the 50-300 km region. Because of the uncertainty in the atmospheric thermal structure of Pluto, photochemical models with three different T(p) models have been developed. The turbulent processes have been parameterized, as in previous atmospheric models, with an eddy diffusion coefficient K = K_o(n_o/n)^0.5 placing the homopause at an assumed altitude of ~150 km. For the case we call nominal (T_surf = 37 K and p_surf = 10 mubar) parent molecules such as N_2, CH_4, and CO must be supplied from the surface with rates of 1.85 x 10^7, 2.87 x 10^8, and 6.83 x 10^3 cm^-2 sec^-1, respectively. As a consequence of photolysis, H and H_2 escaping fluxes, scaled to the surface, are 3.50 x 10^8 and 2.12 x 10^8 cm^-2 sec^-1, respectively. Condensation of light hydrocarbons and nitriles occur between 3 and 5 km, depending on the compound and the surface temperature. Scaling the downward flux of these compounds to the amount of ice that would be deposited on the surface, we have deduced that the most abundant surface ices would be C_2H_6, C_2H_2, HCN, and C_2H_4, in that order.
Huen Ip Wing
Lara Luisa-Maria
Rodrigo Rafael
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