Other
Scientific paper
Sep 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006dps....38.2705c&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #38, #27.05; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 38, p.528
Other
Scientific paper
A major goal of the Cassini Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS) investigation is to study the composition and structure of the Titan upper atmosphere. In this paper, we report our determination of the neutral mass spectra of the Titan upper atmosphere based on detailed analyses of the TA, T5 and T16 data in the closed source neutral (CSN) mode. We considered in more detail than previous several systematic effects in the data analysis in order to determine the best estimate for constituent densities and the associated uncertainties. One major effect considered is the cross talk between mass channels. This is especially important for mass per charge values near 28 because the signal from molecular nitrogen is more than 6 orders of magnitude greater than that due to other detected constituents. We utilized recent calibration measurements on the Cassini engineering model to characterize the cross talk and model it in the Titan data. We also considered the effect of calibration uncertainties and how this interacts with the overlapping cracking patterns of different molecules. We used a sophisticated technique of singular value decomposition (SVD) to obtain the number densities of various constituents simultaneously. As a by-product of our analysis, we also present our determination of the altitude profile of density for molecular nitrogen, molecular hydrogen, and methane (as well as their isotopes). The effect of thrustering firings on the derived density profiles was removed. By comparison with the Huygens Gas Spectrograph Mass Spectrometer (GCMS) measurements at low altitudes of 50 km, the density profiles of these chemically inert species can be used to investigate the mixing and diffusion processes in the Titan atmosphere.
Cui Jun
Vuitton Veronique
Waite H. Jr. J..
Yelle Roger V.
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