Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Oct 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010dps....42.3623g&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #42, #36.23
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
Saturn's moon Titan has a methane cycle akin to Earth's water cycle, with methane evaporating from lakes, condensing in clouds, and precipitating as rain. Titan has been observed in detail for a decade, from its southern summer solstice through vernal equinox. In this time, key observations include methane clouds in southern middle and high latitudes, dry and dune-covered low latitudes, and lakes in polar regions, preferentially in the north. No model has fully explained these features. Here we use a three-dimensional general circulation model (GCM) that includes a methane surface reservoir to show that the atmospheric circulation and its annual cycle can account for the observed methane cloud and lake distributions. Deep convective clouds form in the summer hemisphere -- at the pole and in mid-latitudes -- in rising branches of the mean meridional circulation. Lakes form in polar regions because methane transported toward the summer pole is cold-trapped there; more lakes form in the north because northern summer is colder than southern summer owing to Saturn's orbital eccentricity. The GCM predicts changes that will soon be observable: prominent cloud formation will begin in the northern middle and high latitudes within 3 years, and lake levels near the north pole will rise over the next 15 years. We are grateful for support by a NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship and a David and Lucile Packard Fellowship.
Brown Michael E.
Graves Sonja
Schaller Emily L.
Schneider Tapio
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