Millimeter and Submillimeter Heterodyne Observations of Titan: Retrieval of the Vertical Profile of HCN and the ^12C_solar^13C Ratio

Details Millimeter and Submillimeter Heterodyne Observations of Titan: Retrieval of the Vertical Profile of HCN and the ^12C_solar^13C Ratio Millimeter and Submillimeter Heterodyne Observations of Titan: Retrieval of the Vertical Profile of HCN and the ^12C_solar^13C Ratio

Mar 1997

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1997icar..126..170h&link_type=abstract

Icarus, Volume 126, Issue 1, pp. 170-182.

Computer Science

62

Scientific paper

We report new observations of the (1-0) line of HCN at 88.63 GHz, emitted by Titan, made in May 1995 with the IRAM 30-m radiotelescope located at Pico Veleta (Spain). Compared to previous observations of Tanguy et al. (1990, Icarus 85, 43-57), the signal-to-noise ratio has been improved by a factor of 5, permitting us to retrieve the vertical distribution of HCN in the 80-350 km altitude range. Using the production rate of HCN predicted from photochemical models, we derive a profile of the eddy diffusion coefficient up to 350 km altitude consistent with the observed HCN vertical distribution. This coefficient increases with height more rapidly than the standard n^-0.5 dependence in the stratosphere. The (4-3) line of H^13CN at 345.34 GHz was subsequently observed with the JCMT on Mauna Kea (Hawaii) in June 1995. The analysis of the two spectra yields a ^12C_solar^13C ratio between 70 and 120, consistent with the terrestrial value. Taking into account possible fractionation processes, we show that the C-bearing species which formed Titan should have had a carbon isotopic ratio in the same range.

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