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A New Look at Titan's Zonal Winds from Cassini Radio OccultationsWe use the existing thirteen Cassini radio'occultation soundings to construct a meridional cross section of geopotential height vs. pressure and latitude. The assumption of balanced flow permits the construction of a similar cross section of zonal winds, from near the surface to the 0.1'mbar level. In the lower troposphere, the winds are approx.10 m/s, except within 20deg of the equator, where they are much smaller. The winds increase higher up in the troposphere to nearly 40 m/s in the tropopause region, but then decay rapidly in the lower stratosphere to near'zero values at 20 mbar (approx.80 km), reminiscent of the Huygens Doppler Wind Experiment result. This null zone extends over most latitudes, except for limited bands at mid'latitudes. Higher up in the stratosphere, the winds become larger. They are highest in the northern (winter) hemisphere. We compare the occultation results with the DWE and CIRS retrievals and discuss the similarities and differences among the data sets.
Document ID
20120012064
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Flasar, F. M.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Schinder, P. J.
(Cornell Univ. NY, United States)
Date Acquired
August 26, 2013
Publication Date
April 3, 2012
Subject Category
Astronomy
Report/Patent Number
GSFC.ABS.6366.2012
Meeting Information
Meeting: Titan 2 Workshop
Location: Greenbelt, MD
Country: United States
Start Date: April 3, 2012
End Date: April 5, 2012
Sponsors: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
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