An Updated Radiative Seasonal Climate Model for the Saturnian Atmosphere

With an axial tilt of 26.7°, Saturn exhibits seasonal climate variations similar to Earth's. Saturn's atmosphere contains less than 1% methane, and yet this hydrocarbon and its photochemical products play a dominant role in regulating the atmospheric seasonal temperature variability. Methane photochemical byproducts, ethane and acetylene, are Saturn's main stratospheric coolants while methane itself dominates in solar absorption. The amount of ultraviolet flux from the Sun regulates the hydrocarbon production rates. This flux depends on such factors as latitude, season, time of day, distance from the Sun, and ring attenuation.