Latitudinal Variations of Tropospheric H2 on Titan from the Cassini CIRS Investigation

Details Latitudinal Variations of Tropospheric H2 on Titan from the Cassini CIRS Investigation Latitudinal Variations of Tropospheric H2 on Titan from the Cassini CIRS Investigation

Sep 2008

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008dps....40.3101c&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #40, #31.01; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 40, p.446

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

4

Scientific paper

From a selection of nearly 6900 Titan far-infrared spectra recorded between March 2006 and February 2007 by the CIRS instrument on Cassini, we have assembled a set of 9 average spectra distributed in latitude between 80°S and 80°N. In each of these latitude bins, we determine the tropospheric H2 mole fraction by fitting the S0(0) rotational transition of the H2-N2 dimer molecule around 350 cm-1. A global value of the H2 mole fraction of [9.6±2.4]x10-4 was previously derived from the same selection of spectra (Courtin et al., 2007, BAAS 39, 529). All of the values inferred in the 9 latitude bins are consistent with that global value, except those at 40-60°N and 60-80°N, which are enhanced by factors of 1.3±0.4 and 1.7±0.4, respectively. This enhancement is correlated with that observed in the same latitude range for certain stratospheric constituents: HCN, C3H4, C4H2, HC3N, and C6H6 (Coustenis et al., 2007, Icarus 189, 35), as well as for the haze extinction vertical profile at 100-300 km altitude (Vinatier et al., 2008, EPSC Abstracts 3, 433). Although these enhancements occur at different altitudes, we suggest that they are connected through a positive feedback mechanism between haze production and chemistry through an efficient recombination of H atoms in H2 molecules (Sekine et al., 2008, Icarus 194, 201).

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