Variations In The Abundance Of Acetylene And Ethane In The Atmosphere Of Saturn, As Deduced From Cassini/CIRS And IRTF/MIRI Measurements.
Abstract
High resolution data taken by Cassini/CIRS from June to November 2004 are analysed to deduce variations in the abundance of acetylene and ethane. The data has good spatial coverage of Saturn's southern latitudes covering 5 to 80 S, binned by latitude into strips of 2 degrees. Tropospheric and stratospheric temperatures are initially deduced using the hydrogen S(1) continuum and the methane v4 band. Using the retrieved temperature profiles latitudinal variations in the abundance of acetylene and ethane are determined using the v5 band of acetylene and the v9 band of ethane.
These results are compared with ground-based observations of Saturn taken with MIRSI on the IRTF in January and February 2006. Temperature profiles are derived from fitting the hydrogen S(1) continuum and the methane v4 band. Variations in the abundance of the two hydrocarbons are then determined using the R branch of the v5 band of acetylene and the v9 band of ethane. This research was funded by the UK Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council and the NASA Cassini Project.- Publication:
-
AAS/Division for Planetary Sciences Meeting Abstracts #38
- Pub Date:
- September 2006
- Bibcode:
- 2006DPS....38.3907H