Modeling Saturn's 5-micron IRTF/SpeX and Cassini/VIMS Spectra

Details Modeling Saturn's 5-micron IRTF/SpeX and Cassini/VIMS Spectra Modeling Saturn's 5-micron IRTF/SpeX and Cassini/VIMS Spectra

Sep 2008

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008dps....40.4301c&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #40, #43.01; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 40, p.474

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

Cassini's Visual Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) is revealing dramatic structure in the clouds of Saturn's atmosphere. We complement VIMS observations by simultaneously making ground-based observations around 5 microns using the SpeX spectrograph on NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF). Compared to VIMS, SpeX has higher spectral resolution but lower spatial resolution. Saturn's 5-micron flux from the day side is divided into two roughly equal components: reflected sunlight and thermal emission from the deep atmosphere. The exact ratio of these components varies spatially on Saturn due to its cloud structure. VIMS can separate the components by observing not only Saturn's day side, but also its night side, where by definition the reflected sunlight component is zero. Near 5 microns, we specifically concentrate on phosphine and ammonia absorption. We model Saturn's spectra using the SSP code at NASA/GSFC, which accounts for volume mixing ratio vs pressure profiles of atmospheric species and cloud height and thickness. We start by modeling the thermal component of VIMS night-side data at various northern and southern latitudes and then model VIMS day-side data and SpeX data by adding the reflected sunlight component, also at various latitudes. Observing Saturn's northern hemisphere from the IRTF is becoming easier as Saturn approaches its equinox in 2009. Our modeling efforts will enable us to characterize latitudinal variations in the spectra around 5 microns. The rich data sets provided by Cassini/VIMS and IRTF/SpeX can provide us with many insights into atmospheric abundances, chemistry, transport, and energy balance. This project is supported by a scholarship from the U.S. Air Force and grants from the National Science Foundation (AST-0507558) and NASA (NNG06G126G).

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Modeling Saturn's 5-micron IRTF/SpeX and Cassini/VIMS Spectra 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 Modeling Saturn's 5-micron IRTF/SpeX and Cassini/VIMS Spectra, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Modeling Saturn's 5-micron IRTF/SpeX and Cassini/VIMS Spectra will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1439016