Meridional Distributions of Methylacetylene and Diacetylene in Saturn's Stratosphere from CIRS/Cassini Observations.

Details Meridional Distributions of Methylacetylene and Diacetylene in Saturn's Stratosphere from CIRS/Cassini Observations. Meridional Distributions of Methylacetylene and Diacetylene in Saturn's Stratosphere from CIRS/Cassini Observations.

Sep 2009

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009dps....41.2804g&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #41, #28.04

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

The Composite InfraRed Spectrometer (CIRS) aboard the Cassini spacecraft provides a unique opportunity to perform limb observations of Saturn's stratosphere. This viewing geometry favors the detection of minor species and allows the retrieval of their abundance profile with a larger vertical extent and higher vertical resolution than nadir observations.
Following our work on acetylene, ethane and propane (Guerlet et al. 2009), we will present the first maps of the volume mixing ratio of methylacetylene (CH3C2H) and diacetylene (C4H2), from 45°N to 80°S and 3 mbar to 0.05 mbar. These results were obtained from an analysis of CIRS limb observations using a line-by-line radiative transfer model coupled to an inversion algorithm. We have also analyzed sets of nadir CIRS spectra, which are sensitive to C4H2 around 0.5 mbar, extending the meridional coverage up to 88°S and 65°N at this pressure level.
These molecules are minor by-products of the methane photochemistry, but their abundances give important insights on the main chemical pathways, as we will show their distributions compare with our previously derived C2H2 variations. C4H2 and CH3C2H have also rather short lifetimes (25-80 years at 1 mbar) compared to the main hydrocarbons' lifetimes (ethane and acetylene, resp. 700 and 100 years at 1 mbar) making them good tracers of seasonal stratospheric dynamics. They display some small-scale variations in their meridional distribution which could be symptomatic of vertical and/or meridional dynamics. We will compare the distribution of C3H4 and C4H2 we derived with the predictions of the photochemical seasonal model of Julie Moses (Moses and Greathouse, 2005).

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Meridional Distributions of Methylacetylene and Diacetylene in Saturn's Stratosphere from CIRS/Cassini Observations. does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Meridional Distributions of Methylacetylene and Diacetylene in Saturn's Stratosphere from CIRS/Cassini Observations., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Meridional Distributions of Methylacetylene and Diacetylene in Saturn's Stratosphere from CIRS/Cassini Observations. will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1332864