Predictions for the acoustic attenuation coefficient and phase speed as functions of frequency and altitude in Saturn's atmosphere are presented and discussed. The pressure range considered in the study is 1 mbar to 1 bar, in windless and cloudless conditions. The atmospheric composition is represented by the major constituents, namely hydrogen (with its two spin isomers, ortho-H2 and para-H2) and helium. The H2 and He concentrations are assumed constant with respect to altitude; however, non-uniform ortho- and para-H2 profiles are considered. The acoustic wavenumber is obtained by incorporating a viscous, thermal, and internal molecular relaxation effects in a linearized fluid dynamics model. The ambient inputs are vertical profiles of the specific heats, shear viscosity, and thermal conductivity coefficients of the three-component (oH2, pH2, He) mixture, extracted at each pressure-temperature pair. The authors acknowledge funding from NASA-Ames Center for Innovation Fund (CIF).
@article{arxiv.2507.10478,
title = {Predicting the Acoustic Signatures of Saturn's Upper Atmosphere},
author = {Andrew Powell and Andi Petculescu and Rishbash Chaudhary and Robert White and Don Banfield and Ian Neeson},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2507.10478},
year = {2025}
}