Detection of Daily Clouds on Titan

Griffith, C. A.; Hall, J. L.; Geballe, T. R.

doi:10.1126/science.290.5491.509

Cited by 155 publications

(102 citation statements)

References 30 publications

(18 reference statements)

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“…In Titan's southern hemisphere, clouds appear near the pole and at −40 • latitude (Griffith et al 1998(Griffith et al , 2000Brown et al 2002;Roe et al 2002;Gibbard et al 2004;Roe et al 2005;Ádámkovics et al 2006;Schaller et al 2006aSchaller et al , 2006bHirtzig et al 2006;Rodriguez et al 2009). Their hourly temporal evolution, cumuli structures, and positions in the upper troposphere, at ∼25-45 km, indicate that they consist of methane (the second most abundant atmospheric constituent), form through convection, and dissipate through rainfall (Griffith et al 2000;Porco et al 2005;Griffith et al 2005;Turtle et al 2009). Titan's northern hemisphere displays an increasing number of similarly discrete clouds, hypothesized to result from evaporation (Brown et al 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of Clouds in Titan's Tropical Atmosphere

Griffith

Penteado

Rodríguez

et al. 2009

ApJ

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Images of Titan's clouds, possible over the past 10 years, indicate primarily discrete convective methane clouds near the south and north poles and an immense stratiform cloud, likely composed of ethane, around the north pole. Here we present spectral images from Cassini's Visual Mapping Infrared Spectrometer that reveal the increasing presence of clouds in Titan's tropical atmosphere. Radiative transfer analyses indicate similarities between summer polar and tropical methane clouds. Like their southern counterparts, tropical clouds consist of particles exceeding 5 μm. They display discrete structures suggestive of convective cumuli. They prevail at a specific latitude band between 8 • -20 • S, indicative of a circulation origin and the beginning of a circulation turnover. Yet, unlike the high latitude clouds that often reach 45 km altitude, these discrete tropical clouds, so far, remain capped to altitudes below 26 km. Such low convective clouds are consistent with the highly stable atmospheric conditions measured at the Huygens landing site. Their characteristics suggest that Titan's tropical atmosphere has a dry climate unlike the south polar atmosphere, and despite the numerous washes that carve the tropical landscape.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of Clouds in Titan's Tropical Atmosphere

Griffith

Penteado

Rodríguez

et al. 2009

ApJ

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“…Numerous cloud features have also been detected from ground-based observations (e.g. Griffith et al 2000) and Cassini observations (Griffith et al 2005(Griffith et al , 2006Porco et al 2005). Even though some of the observed features have been speculated to be indicative of cryovolcanic activities (Roe et al 2005), most of the observed features can be understood in the framework of the general circulation model of Titan's atmosphere (Rannou et al 2006;Rodriguez et al 2007) and do not require any particular activity on Titan's surface.…”

Section: Observational Constraints On the Evolution Of Titan And Its mentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of Titan and implications for its hydrocarbon cycle

Tobie

Choukroun

Grasset

et al. 2008

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

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Measurements of the carbon and nitrogen isotopic ratios as well as the detection of 40 Ar and 36 Ar by the gas chromatograph mass spectrometer (GCMS) instrument on board the Huygens probe have provided key constraints on the origin and evolution of Titan's atmosphere, and indirectly on the evolution of its interior. Those data combined with models of Titan's interior can be used to determine the story of volatile outgassing since Titan's formation. In the absence of an internal source, methane, which is irreversibly photodissociated in Titan's stratosphere, should be removed entirely from the atmosphere in a time-span of a few tens of millions of years. The episodic destabilization of methane clathrate reservoir stored within Titan's crust and subsequent methane outgassing could explain the present atmospheric abundance of methane, as well as the presence of argon in the atmosphere. The idea that methane is released from the interior through eruptive processes is also supported by the observations of several cryovolcanic-like features on Titan's surface by the mapping spectrometer (VIMS) and the radar on board Cassini. Thermal instabilities within the icy crust, possibly favoured by the presence of ammonia, may explain the observed features and provide the conditions for eruption of methane and other volatiles. Episodic resurfacing events associated with thermal and compositional instabilities in the icy crust can have major consequences on the hydrocarbon budget on Titan's surface and atmosphere.

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“…Neither, it seems, are dry places in the solar system. No clearly starred papers here, but we read about lavas made of water ice on Ganymede (Schenk et al 2001) and hydrated rocks as well (McCord et al 2001), ocean survival on Callisto , and rain on Titan (Griffith et al 2000). Admittedly, the rain drops are liquid methane, but the methane in turn comes from methane hydrate (Loveday et al 2001).…”

Section: Moons and Planets: Dry And Wet Countiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Astrophysics in 2001

Trimble¹,

Aschwanden²

2002

PUBL ASTRON SOC PAC

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ABSTRACT. During the year, astronomers provided explanations for solar topics ranging from the multiple personality disorder of neutrinos to cannibalism of CMEs (coronal mass ejections) and extrasolar topics including quivering stars, out-of-phase gaseous media, black holes of all sizes (too large, too small, and too medium), and the existence of the universe. Some of these explanations are probably probably true, though the authors are not betting large sums on any one. The data ought to remain true forever, though this requires a careful definition of "data" (think of the Martian canals).

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Detection of Daily Clouds on Titan

Cited by 155 publications

References 30 publications

Characterization of Clouds in Titan's Tropical Atmosphere

Characterization of Clouds in Titan's Tropical Atmosphere

Evolution of Titan and implications for its hydrocarbon cycle

Astrophysics in 2001

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