The atmosphere of Titan: An analysis of the Voyager 1 radio occultation measurements

Lindal, G. F.; Wood, G. E.; Hotz, Henry B.; Sweetnam, D. N.; Eshleman, V. R.; Tyler, G. L.

doi:10.1016/0019-1035(83)90155-0

Cited by 428 publications

(200 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Concerning the latter, we have a considerable body of data on the atmosphere immediately above the surface from the Voyager 1 and 2 encounters, speci®cally from the radio-occultation experiment (Lindal et al, 1983) and at higher altitudes from the IRIS infrared spectrometer. A combined analysis was undertaken by Lellouch et al (1989).…”

Section: Constraints On Volatile Inventorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Analytic investigation of climate stability on Titan: sensitivity to volatile inventory

Lorenz

McKay

Lunine

1999

Planetary and Space Science

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We develop a semiempirical grey radiative model to quantify Titan's surface temperature as a function of pressure and composition of a nitrogen-methane-hydrogen atmosphere, solar¯ux and atmospheric haze. We then use this model, together with non-ideal gas-liquid equilibrium theory to investigate the behavior of the coupled surface-atmosphere system on Titan. We ®nd that a volatile-rich Titan is unstable with respect to a runaway greenhouseÐsmall increases in solar luminosity from the present value can lead to massive increases in surface temperature. If methane has been photolyzed throughout Titan's history, then this runaway can only be avoided if the photolytic ethane is removed from the surface-atmosphere system. #

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Section: Constraints On Volatile Inventorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Analytic investigation of climate stability on Titan: sensitivity to volatile inventory

Lorenz

McKay

Lunine

1999

Planetary and Space Science

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“…On the basis of the models and Voyager radio occultation observations, 6 Lunine et al 7 suggested that Titan was covered by a kilometer-deep ocean, consisting primarily of ethane, due to the irreversible conversion of methane to ethane through photolytic processes and its subsequent condensation. Until the arrival of Cassini-Huygens, many lakes or a global ocean were predicted to be found on the surface of Titan.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Titan’s Carbon Budget and the Case of the Missing Ethane

Wilson

Atreya

2009

J. Phys. Chem. A

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The retrieval of data from the Cassini-Huygens mission has revealed much about Titan's atmosphericsurface system and has precipitated more questions. One of these questions involves the lack of large reservoirs of ethane that were predicted by a variety of studies prior to the arrival of the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft. Using an updated and comprehensive photochemical model, we examine the nature of Titan's carbon budget, initiated by the destruction of methane, and the role that ethane condensation plays in this budget. Model results show that 40% of methane destruction results in ethane formation, with a net production rate of 2.7 × 10 9 molecules cm -2 s -1 , due primarily to acetylenic catalysis in Titan's stratosphere. This corresponds to a liquid ethane layer of several hundred meters over geologic time. However, episodic methane outgassing, subsurface sequestration, and chemical processing of Titan's surface are likely responsible for the limiting of ethane condensate on Titan's surface to less than 10 m globally averaged.

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“…Venus, Mars) and ionosphere (e.g. Fjeldbo and Eshelman, 1965, Kliore et al, 1965, Fjeldbo et al, 1971, Kliore and Patel, 1982, Lindal et al, 1983. The GPS/MET experiment on board the Low Earth Orbiter (LEO) Microlab 1 (launched on 3 April 1995) consists of a GPS receiver to obtain atmospheric refractivities during the rise or set of the LEO satellite relative to one of the 24 GPS satellites (Kursinski et al, 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%