Distribution of Radiative Heating Rates in Titan's Lower Atmosphere

Seasonality in Titan's lower atmosphere is a response to variable solar heating. The moon's curvature and the increased attenuation of radiation at high latitudes translate into differential heating that drives the dynamics. Methane, the primary condensable in Titan's hydrological cycle, is also a primary absorber of radiation both at solar and infrared wavelengths. Variations in the abundance of this species with latitude may therefore also affect the radiative heating profile, making accurate computation of radiative transfer a requirement for dynamical models. We use a broadband, two-stream radiative transfer model with exponential sum fits to transmission functions for radiatively active species, including aerosols, to investigate the dependence of radiative heating rates on the vertical and latitudinal distribution of absorbers. This model is used in a general circulation model (GCM) of Titan to explore the effects on the atmospheric dynamics.