Turbulent Exchanges of Heat and Methane at the Atmosphere-Lake Interfaces of Titan

Details Turbulent Exchanges of Heat and Methane at the Atmosphere-Lake Interfaces of Titan Turbulent Exchanges of Heat and Methane at the Atmosphere-Lake Interfaces of Titan

Dec 2011

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011agufm.p33e1793r&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2011, abstract #P33E-1793

Physics

[0312] Atmospheric Composition And Structure / Air/Sea Constituent Fluxes, [3307] Atmospheric Processes / Boundary Layer Processes, [5704] Planetary Sciences: Fluid Planets / Atmospheres, [6281] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Titan

Scientific paper

The only certain and known source of methane for the atmosphere of Titan is the volatile organic lake reservoirs. In general, there will be a turbulent exchange of methane and sensible heat between the atmosphere and the surface of these lakes. The turbulent fluxes of methane and heat are controlled by a variety of factors that includes: the temperature of the lake and atmosphere, the molar fraction of methane in the lake, the methane vapor pressure of the air, the wind speed, the atmospheric stability, and the solar and infrared heat available to drive the system. In addition, the dynamics of both the lake and the atmosphere influence how the turbulent fluxes evolve over time. Previous studies have estimated the magnitude of the turbulent fluxes, but have also made sweeping assumptions, including the neglect of dynamics or assumptions about the coupling of latent and sensible heat fluxes. Here, we present results from numerical simulations that explicitly calculate the turbulent fluxes of methane and energy as a function of each of the previously mentioned controlling variables. We then compare the results to previous estimates.

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