Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Sep 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009dps....41.2105r&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #41, #21.05
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
The unambiguous identification of large reservoirs (lakes and seas) of liquid organics on the surface of Titan imply that there is an exchange of heat and moisture that almost certainly has a major influence on the global methane and energy budget. Previous studies have used simple theoretical calculations based on bulk aerodynamic turbulent transfer to estimate the magnitude of this air-sea interaction and the thermodynamic equilibrium temperature of the lakes and seas. All of these studies make highly simplifying assumptions about the dynamic or thermodynamic behavior of the air and the reservoirs. In this study, we use a fully dynamic atmospheric model coupled to a lake energy balance model to explore air-sea interactions on Titan. The results show that even under highly idealized conditions consistent with previous theoretical studies, the air-sea interaction process is highly complex and is not well represented by simple transfer models and the associated assumptions. In particular, atmospheric circulations induced by sensible heating or driven by buoyancy accelerations associated with moisture fluxes often violate simplifying assumptions made in previous theoretical studies. This finding has broad implications on the current understanding of the methane cycle as well as local and regional lake-effect processes, including cloud formation.
Barth Erika L.
Rafkin Scot C. R.
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