Related papers: Titan's transport-driven methane cycle
Phase transitions of atmospheric water play a ubiquitous role in the Earth's climate system, but their direct impact on atmospheric dynamics has escaped wide attention. Here we examine and advance a theory as to how condensation influences…
Bimolecular diffusion coefficients are important parameters used by atmospheric models to calculate altitude profiles of minor constituents in an atmosphere. Unfortunately, laboratory measurements of these coefficients were never conducted…
Similar to Earth, Saturn's largest moon, Titan, possesses a system of high-altitude zonal winds (or jets) that encircle the globe. Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in August 2016, Lellouch et al. (2019)…
I report the results of a new set of calculations for the gravitational contraction of the proto-solar cloud to quantify the idea that Titan may be a captured moon of Saturn (Prentice 1981, 1984). It is proposed that Titan initially…
The interior flux of a giant planet impacts atmospheric motion, and the atmosphere dictates the interior's cooling. Here we use a non-hydrostatic general circulation model (Simulating Nonhydrostatic Atmospheres on Planets, SNAP) coupled…
Titan's atmosphere is optically thick and hides the surface and the lower layers from the view at almost all wavelengths. However, because gaseous absorptions are spectrally selective, some narrow spectral intervals are relatively…
Titan's moment of inertia, calculated assuming hydrostatic equilibrium from gravity field data obtained during the Cassini-Huygens mission, implies an internal mass distribution that may be incompatible with complete differentiation. This…
Ocean worlds are prevalent in the solar system. Focusing on Enceladus, Titan, Europa, and Ganymede, I use rotating convection theory and numerical simulations to predict ocean currents and the potential for ice-ocean coupling. When the…
Escape of an early atmosphere from Titan, during which time NH3 could be converted by photolysis into the present N2 dominated atmosphere, is an important problem in planetary science. Recently Gilliam and Lerman (2014) estimated escape…
Using adaptive optics on the W.M. Keck II telescope we imaged Titan several times during 1999 to 2001 in narrowband near-infrared filters selected to probe Titan's stratosphere and upper troposphere. We observed a bright feature around the…
Water-ice-poor, 5-$\mu$m-bright material on Saturn's moon Titan has previously been geomorphologically identified as evaporitic. Here we present a global distribution of the occurrences of the 5-$\mu$m-bright spectral unit, identified with…
Tropical precipitation extremes are expected to strengthen with warming, but quantitative estimates remain uncertain because of a poor understanding of changes in convective dynamics. This uncertainty is addressed here by analyzing…
Simulations with the Max Planck Institute Martian general circulation model for Martian years 28 and 34 reveal details of the water "pump" mechanism and the role of gravity wave (GW) forcing. Water is advected to the upper atmosphere mainly…
This article discussesl a few of the problems that arise in geophysical fluid dynamics and climate that are associated with the presence of moisture in the air, its condensation and release of latent heat. Our main focus is Earth's…
Clouds' efficiency at reflecting solar radiation and trapping the terrestrial one is strongly modulated by their diurnal cycle. Much attention has been paid to mean cloud properties due to their critical role in climate projections;…
Observations suggest an abundance of water and paucity of methane in the majority of observed exoplanetary atmospheres. We isolate the effect of atmospheric processes to investigate possible causes. Previously, we studied the effect of…
We conduct an in-depth analysis of statistical flow properties calculated from the reference high-resolution Saturn simulation obtained by global climate modelling in Part II. In the steady state of this reference simulation, strongly…
Storms are emerging as key drivers in shaping hydrogen-dominated atmospheres. Trace gas condensation can suppress convection and disrupt the distribution of energy and material in hydrogen atmospheres. On Jupiter, the presence of water has…
Methanol is a potentially important impurity in subsurface oceans on Titan and Enceladus. We report measurements of the freezing of methanol-water samples at pressures up to 350~MPa using a volumetric cell with sapphire windows. For low…
Wetlands are significant carbon sinks, yet methane emissions partially offset this function due to its high global warming potential. Coastal tidal wetlands, unlike non-tidal wetlands, are regulated by oceanic drivers like salinity…