Titan's atmospheric temperatures, winds, and composition.

• Published in: Science
• Main Authors: Flasar, F, Achterberg, R, Conrath, B, Gierasch, P, Kunde, V, Nixon, C, Bjoraker, G, Jennings, D, Romani, P, Simon-Miller, A, Bézard, B, Coustenis, A, Irwin, P, Teanby, N, Brasunas, J, Pearl, J, Segura, M, Carlson, R, Mamoutkine, A, Schinder, P, Barucci, A, Courtin, R, Fouchet, T, Gautier, D, Lellouch, E
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: South Pole; South pole
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1111150; https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:35faba32-411a-489b-89d0-268874979f54

Temperatures obtained from early Cassini infrared observations of Titan show a stratopause at an altitude of 310 kilometers (and 186 kelvin at 15 degrees S). Stratospheric temperatures are coldest in the winter northern hemisphere, with zonal winds reaching 160 meters per second. The concentrations of several stratospheric organic compounds are enhanced at mid- and high northern latitudes, and the strong zonal winds may inhibit mixing between these latitudes and the rest of Titan. Above the south pole, temperatures in the stratosphere are 4 to 5 kelvin cooler than at the equator. The stratospheric mole fractions of methane and carbon monoxide are (1.6 +/- 0.5) x 10(-2) and (4.5 +/- 1.5) x 10(-5), respectively.