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TITAN S MIDDLE AND UPPER ATMOSPHERE IS PROBED BY THERMAL INFRARED MEASUREMENTS BY CIRS UV OCCULTATION MEASUREMENTS BY UVIS AND IN SITU MEASUREMENTS BY INMS. CIRS LIMB PROFILES CONSTRAINS THE ATMOSPHERE FROM 150 TO 400-500 KM UVIS OCCULTATIONS FROM 500 KM TO 1400 KM AND INMS FROM 1000 TO 1500 KM. THERE HAVE BEEN EXTENSIVE STUDIES OF THE CIRS AND INMS DATA SETS (VINATIER ET AL. 2007 2010 2015 CUI ET AL. 2009 MAGEE ET AL. 2009 SNOWDEN ET AL 2013) BUT LIMITED INVESTIGATIONS OF THE UVIS OCCULTATIONS. KOSKINEN ET AL. (2011) KAMMER ET AL. (2013) AND CAPALBO ET AL. (2013 2016) HAVE ANALYZED A SMALL NUMBER OF TITAN OCCULTATIONS BUT THERE REMAIN 28 STELLAR OCCULTATIONS AND 7 SOLAR OCCULTATIONS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN REDUCED AND ANALYZED. MOREOVER ABSORPTION IN THE N2 BAND REGION FROM 80-100 NM HAS YET TO BE ANALYZED FOR ANY SOLAR OCCULTATIONS. THE CIRS UVIS AND INMS MEASUREMENTS CONSTRAIN THE DISTRIBUTIONS OF TEMPERATURE N2 CH4 AND NUMEROUS OTHER HYDROCARBONS INCLUDING C2H2 C2H4 C2H6 C4H2 C3H8 C6H6 HCN HC3N DEPENDENT UPON THE PARTICULAR MEASUREMENT. ALTHOUGH THE ALTITUDES PROBED BY THE SEPARATE MEASUREMENTS SOMETIMES DO NOT OVERLAP IT IS POSSIBLE TO INTERPOLATE OVER THE GAPS ASSUMING SMOOTHNESS AND GUIDED BY THERMAL BALANCE AND CHEMICAL/DIFFUSION CONSIDERATIONS. THUS WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO DETERMINE THE VERTICAL PROFILES OF TEMPERATURE AND COMPOSITION FROM THE LOWER STRATOSPHERE TO THE UPPER THERMOSPHERE THROUGH A COMBINED ANALYSIS OF THESE DATA SETS. THIS WILL GREATLY EXPAND OUR UNDERSTANDING OF TITAN S ATMOSPHERE AND ITS VARIATION OVER SEASONAL AND SOLAR CYCLE TIME SCALES. WE WILL USE THESE VERTICAL PROFILES TO INVESTIGATE THE ENERGETICS AND CHEMISTRY OF THE ATMOSPHERE. THIS PROPOSAL IS RELEVANT TO THE NASA STRATEGIC PLAN OBJECTIVE 1.4: UNDERSTAND THE SUN AND ITS INTERACTIONS WITH EARTH AND THE SOLAR SYSTEM INCLUDING SPACE WEATHER BECAUSE THE STRUCTURE OF TITAN'S ATMOSPHERE IS DEPENDENT UPON ITS INTERACTIONS WITH THE SUN. THE PROPOSAL IS ALSO RELEVANT TO OBJECTIVE 1.6: DISCOVER HOW THE UNIVERSE WORKS EXPLORE HOW IT BEGAN AND EVOLVED AND SEARCH FOR LIFE ON PLANETS AROUND OTHER STARS BECAUSE IT INVESTIGATES HOW TITAN'S ATMOSPSHERE WORKS.

$295,158FY2020National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA

University Of Arizona, Tucson AZ

Investigators

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TITAN S MIDDLE AND UPPER ATMOSPHERE IS PROBED BY THERMAL INFRARED MEASUREMENTS BY CIRS UV OCCULTATION MEASUREMENTS BY UVIS AND IN SITU MEASUREMENTS BY INMS. CIRS LIMB PROFILES CONSTRAINS THE ATMOSPHERE FROM 150 TO 400-500 KM UVIS OCCULTATIONS FROM 500 KM TO 1400 KM AND INMS FROM 1000 TO 1500 KM. THERE HAVE BEEN EXTENSIVE STUDIES OF THE CIRS AND INMS DATA SETS (VINATIER ET AL. 2007 2010 2015 CUI ET AL. 2009 MAGEE ET AL. 2009 SNOWDEN ET AL 2013) BUT LIMITED INVESTIGATIONS OF THE UVIS OCCULTATIONS. KOSKINEN ET AL. (2011) KAMMER ET AL. (2013) AND CAPALBO ET AL. (2013 2016) HAVE ANALYZED A SMALL NUMBER OF TITAN OCCULTATIONS BUT THERE REMAIN 28 STELLAR OCCULTATIONS AND 7 SOLAR OCCULTATIONS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN REDUCED AND ANALYZED. MOREOVER ABSORPTION IN THE N2 BAND REGION FROM 80-100 NM HAS YET TO BE ANALYZED FOR ANY SOLAR OCCULTATIONS. THE CIRS UVIS AND INMS MEASUREMENTS CONSTRAIN THE DISTRIBUTIONS OF TEMPERATURE N2 CH4 AND NUMEROUS OTHER HYDROCARBONS INCLUDING C2H2 C2H4 C2H6 C4H2 C3H8 C6H6 HCN HC3N DEPENDENT UPON THE PARTICULAR MEASUREMENT. ALTHOUGH THE ALTITUDES PROBED BY THE SEPARATE MEASUREMENTS SOMETIMES DO NOT OVERLAP IT IS POSSIBLE TO INTERPOLATE OVER THE GAPS ASSUMING SMOOTHNESS AND GUIDED BY THERMAL BALANCE AND CHEMICAL/DIFFUSION CONSIDERATIONS. THUS WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO DETERMINE THE VERTICAL PROFILES OF TEMPERATURE AND COMPOSITION FROM THE LOWER STRATOSPHERE TO THE UPPER THERMOSPHERE THROUGH A COMBINED ANALYSIS OF THESE DATA SETS. THIS WILL GREATLY EXPAND OUR UNDERSTANDING OF TITAN S ATMOSPHERE AND ITS VARIATION OVER SEASONAL AND SOLAR CYCLE TIME SCALES. WE WILL USE THESE VERTICAL PROFILES TO INVESTIGATE THE ENERGETICS AND CHEMISTRY OF THE ATMOSPHERE. THIS PROPOSAL IS RELEVANT TO THE NASA STRATEGIC PLAN OBJECTIVE 1.4: UNDERSTAND THE SUN AND ITS INTERACTIONS WITH EARTH AND THE SOLAR SYSTEM INCLUDING SPACE WEATHER BECAUSE THE STRUCTURE OF TITAN'S ATMOSPHERE IS DEPENDENT UPON ITS INTERACTIONS WITH THE SUN. THE PROPOSAL IS ALSO RELEVANT TO OBJECTIVE 1.6: DISCOVER HOW THE UNIVERSE WORKS EXPLORE HOW IT BEGAN AND EVOLVED AND SEARCH FOR LIFE ON PLANETS AROUND OTHER STARS BECAUSE IT INVESTIGATES HOW TITAN'S ATMOSPSHERE WORKS. · GrantIndex