Direct detection of variable tropospheric clouds near Titan's south pole

Atmospheric conditions on Saturn's largest satellite, Titan, allow the possibility that it could possess a methane condensation and precipitation cycle with many similarities to Earth's hydrological cycle. Detailed imaging studies of Titan have hitherto shown no direct evidence for tropospheric condensation clouds, although there has been indirect spectroscopic evidence for transient clouds. Here we report images and spectra of Titan that show clearly transient clouds, concentrated near the south pole, which is currently near the point of maximum solar heating. The discovery of these clouds demonstrates the existence of condensation and localized moist convection in Titan's atmosphere. Their location suggests that methane cloud formation is controlled seasonally by small variations in surface temperature, and that the clouds will move from the south to the north pole on a 15-year timescale.     

The identification of liquid ethane in Titan's Ontario Lacus

Titan was once thought to have global oceans of light hydrocarbons on its surface, but after 40 close flybys of Titan by the Cassini spacecraft, it has become clear that no such oceans exist. There are, however, features similar to terrestrial lakes and seas, and widespread evidence for fluvial erosion, presumably driven by precipitation of liquid methane from Titan's dense, nitrogen-dominated atmosphere. Here we report infrared spectroscopic data, obtained by the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) on board the Cassini spacecraft, that strongly indicate that ethane, probably in liquid solution with methane, nitrogen and other low-molecular-mass hydrocarbons, is contained within Titan's Ontario Lacus.     

Possible tropical lakes on Titan from observations of dark terrain

Titan has clouds, rain and lakes--like Earth--but composed of methane rather than water. Unlike Earth, most of the condensable methane (the equivalent of 5?m depth globally averaged) lies in the atmosphere. Liquid detected on the surface (about 2?m deep) has been found by radar images only poleward of 50° latitude, while dune fields pervade the tropics. General circulation models explain this dichotomy, predicting that methane efficiently migrates to the poles from these lower latitudes. Here we report an analysis of near-infrared spectral images of the region between 20°?N and 20°?S latitude. The data reveal that the lowest fluxes in seven wavelength bands that probe Titan's surface occur in an oval region of about 60?×?40?km(2), which has been observed repeatedly since 2004. Radiative transfer analyses demonstrate that the resulting spectrum is consistent with a black surface, indicative of liquid methane on the surface. Enduring low-latitude lakes are best explained as supplied by subterranean sources (within the last 10,000 years), which may be responsible for Titan's methane, the continual photochemical depletion of which furnishes Titan's organic chemistry.     

The lakes of Titan

The surface of Saturn's haze-shrouded moon Titan has long been proposed to have oceans or lakes, on the basis of the stability of liquid methane at the surface. Initial visible and radar imaging failed to find any evidence of an ocean, although abundant evidence was found that flowing liquids have existed on the surface. Here we provide definitive evidence for the presence of lakes on the surface of Titan, obtained during the Cassini Radar flyby of Titan on 22 July 2006 (T16). The radar imaging polewards of 70 degrees north shows more than 75 circular to irregular radar-dark patches, in a region where liquid methane and ethane are expected to be abundant and stable on the surface. The radar-dark patches are interpreted as lakes on the basis of their very low radar reflectivity and morphological similarities to lakes, including associated channels and location in topographic depressions. Some of the lakes do not completely fill the depressions in which they lie, and apparently dry depressions are present. We interpret this to indicate that lakes are present in a number of states, including partly dry and liquid-filled. These northern-hemisphere lakes constitute the strongest evidence yet that a condensable-liquid hydrological cycle is active in Titan's surface and atmosphere, in which the lakes are filled through rainfall and/or intersection with the subsurface 'liquid methane' table.     

D to H ratio and the origin and evolution of Titan's atmosphere

A value of 1.7 x 10(-3) has been reported for the ratio of CH3D to CH4 in the stratosphere of the saturnian moon Titan. A lower value of 6 x 10(-4) for this ratio in the deeper part of Titan's atmosphere was reported by de Bergh et al. For comparison we note that the CH3D to CH4 ratio on Saturn and Jupiter is 8.7 x 10(-5) and 6.7 x 10(-5), respectively. We estimate the uncertainties in all these observations and data reduction to be about a factor of 2. Despite these uncertainties it appears that Titan's atmosphere is enriched in deuterium by a factor of > or = 3 relative to Jupiter and Saturn. Potential causative factors examined here for this enrichment are condensation to form tropospheric methane clouds, fractionation occurring over a hypothetical CH4-C2H6 ocean and between the ocean and the clathrate crust beneath, fractionation which occurred during the formation of Titan and fractionation occurring as a result of the evolution of Titan's atmosphere. We conclude that the greater part of the observed fractionation is probably derived from the formation of Titan and the subsequent evolution of Titan's atmosphere driven by photochemistry.     

Imaging of Titan from the Cassini spacecraft

Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, is the only satellite in the Solar System with a substantial atmosphere. The atmosphere is poorly understood and obscures the surface, leading to intense speculation about Titan's nature. Here we present observations of Titan from the imaging science experiment onboard the Cassini spacecraft that address some of these issues. The images reveal intricate surface albedo features that suggest aeolian, tectonic and fluvial processes; they also show a few circular features that could be impact structures. These observations imply that substantial surface modification has occurred over Titan's history. We have not directly detected liquids on the surface to date. Convective clouds are found to be common near the south pole, and the motion of mid-latitude clouds consistently indicates eastward winds, from which we infer that the troposphere is rotating faster than the surface. A detached haze at an altitude of 500 km is 150-200 km higher than that observed by Voyager, and more tenuous haze layers are also resolved.     

Episodic outgassing as the origin of atmospheric methane on Titan

Saturn's largest satellite, Titan, has a massive nitrogen atmosphere containing up to 5 per cent methane near its surface. Photochemistry in the stratosphere would remove the present-day atmospheric methane in a few tens of millions of years. Before the Cassini-Huygens mission arrived at Saturn, widespread liquid methane or mixed hydrocarbon seas hundreds of metres in thickness were proposed as reservoirs from which methane could be resupplied to the atmosphere over geologic time. Titan fly-by observations and ground-based observations rule out the presence of extensive bodies of liquid hydrocarbons at present, which means that methane must be derived from another source over Titan's history. Here we show that episodic outgassing of methane stored as clathrate hydrates within an icy shell above an ammonia-enriched water ocean is the most likely explanation for Titan's atmospheric methane. The other possible explanations all fail because they cannot explain the absence of surface liquid reservoirs and/or the low dissipative state of the interior. On the basis of our models, we predict that future fly-bys should reveal the existence of both a subsurface water ocean and a rocky core, and should detect more cryovolcanic edifices.     

Rain, winds and haze during the Huygens probe's descent to Titan's surface

The irreversible conversion of methane into higher hydrocarbons in Titan's stratosphere implies a surface or subsurface methane reservoir. Recent measurements from the cameras aboard the Cassini orbiter fail to see a global reservoir, but the methane and smog in Titan's atmosphere impedes the search for hydrocarbons on the surface. Here we report spectra and high-resolution images obtained by the Huygens Probe Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer instrument in Titan's atmosphere. Although these images do not show liquid hydrocarbon pools on the surface, they do reveal the traces of once flowing liquid. Surprisingly like Earth, the brighter highland regions show complex systems draining into flat, dark lowlands. Images taken after landing are of a dry riverbed. The infrared reflectance spectrum measured for the surface is unlike any other in the Solar System; there is a red slope in the optical range that is consistent with an organic material such as tholins, and absorption from water ice is seen. However, a blue slope in the near-infrared suggests another, unknown constituent. The number density of haze particles increases by a factor of just a few from an altitude of 150 km to the surface, with no clear space below the tropopause. The methane relative humidity near the surface is 50 per cent.     

Polar methane accumulation and rainstorms on Titan from simulations of the methane cycle

Titan has a methane cycle akin to Earth's water cycle. It has lakes in polar regions, preferentially in the north; dry low latitudes with fluvial features and occasional rainstorms; and tropospheric clouds mainly (so far) in southern middle latitudes and polar regions. Previous models have explained the low-latitude dryness as a result of atmospheric methane transport into middle and high latitudes. Hitherto, no model has explained why lakes are found only in polar regions and preferentially in the north; how low-latitude rainstorms arise; or why clouds cluster in southern middle and high latitudes. Here we report simulations with a three-dimensional atmospheric model coupled to a dynamic surface reservoir of methane. We find that methane is cold-trapped and accumulates in polar regions, preferentially in the north because the northern summer, at aphelion, is longer and has greater net precipitation than the southern summer. The net precipitation in polar regions is balanced in the annual mean by slow along-surface methane transport towards mid-latitudes, and subsequent evaporation. In low latitudes, rare but intense storms occur around the equinoxes, producing enough precipitation to carve surface features. Tropospheric clouds form primarily in middle and high latitudes of the summer hemisphere, which until recently has been the southern hemisphere. We predict that in the northern polar region, prominent clouds will form within about two (Earth) years and lake levels will rise over the next fifteen years.     

Release of volatiles from a possible cryovolcano from near-infrared imaging of Titan

Titan is the only satellite in our Solar System with a dense atmosphere. The surface pressure is 1.5 bar (ref. 1) and, similar to the Earth, N2 is the main component of the atmosphere. Methane is the second most important component, but it is photodissociated on a timescale of 10(7) years (ref. 3). This short timescale has led to the suggestion that Titan may possess a surface or subsurface reservoir of hydrocarbons to replenish the atmosphere. Here we report near-infrared images of Titan obtained on 26 October 2004 by the Cassini spacecraft. The images show that a widespread methane ocean does not exist; subtle albedo variations instead suggest topographical variations, as would be expected for a more solid (perhaps icy) surface. We also find a circular structure approximately 30 km in diameter that does not resemble any features seen on other icy satellites. We propose that the structure is a dome formed by upwelling icy plumes that release methane into Titan's atmosphere.     

The sequestration of ethane on Titan in smog particles

Saturn's largest satellite, Titan, has a dense atmosphere of nitrogen with a few per cent of methane. At visible wavelengths its surface is hidden by dense orange-brown smog, which is produced in the stratosphere by photochemical reactions following the dissociation of methane by solar ultraviolet light. The most abundant of the products of these reactions is ethane, and enough of it should have been generated over the life of the Solar System to form a satellite-wide ocean one kilometre deep. Radar observations have found specular reflections in 75 per cent of the surface spots observed, but optical searches for a sun-glint off an ocean have been negative. Here I explain the mysterious absence or rarity of liquid ethane: it condenses onto the smog particles, instead of into liquid drops, at the cold temperatures in Titan's atmosphere. This dusty combination of smog and ethane, forming deposits several kilometres thick on the surface, including the observed dunes and dark areas, could be named 'smust'. This satellite-wide deposit replaces the ocean long thought to be an important feature of Titan.     

Methane storms on Saturn's moon Titan

The presence of dry fluvial river channels and the intense cloud activity in the south pole of Titan over the past few years suggest the presence of methane rain. The nitrogen atmosphere of Titan therefore appears to support a methane meteorological cycle that sculptures the surface and controls its properties. Titan and Earth are the only worlds in the Solar System where rain reaches the surface, although the atmospheric cycles of water and methane are expected to be very different. Here we report three-dimensional dynamical calculations showing that severe methane convective storms accompanied by intense precipitation may occur in Titan under the right environmental conditions. The strongest storms grow when the methane relative humidity in the middle troposphere is above 80 per cent, producing updrafts with maximum velocities of 20 m s(-1), able to reach altitudes of 30 km before dissipating in 5-8 h. Raindrops of 1-5 mm in radius produce precipitation rainfalls on the surface as high as 110 kg m(-2) and are comparable to flash flood events on Earth.     

Stable methane hydrate above 2 GPa and the source of Titan's atmospheric methane

Methane hydrate is thought to have been the dominant methane-containing phase in the nebula from which Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and their major moons formed. It accordingly plays an important role in formation models of Titan, Saturn's largest moon. Current understanding assumes that methane hydrate dissociates into ice and free methane in the pressure range 1-2 GPa (10-20 kbar), consistent with some theoretical and experimental studies. But such pressure-induced dissociation would have led to the early loss of methane from Titan's interior to its atmosphere, where it would rapidly have been destroyed by photochemical processes. This is difficult to reconcile with the observed presence of significant amounts of methane in Titan's present atmosphere. Here we report neutron and synchrotron X-ray diffraction studies that determine the thermodynamic behaviour of methane hydrate at pressures up to 10 GPa. We find structural transitions at about 1 and 2 GPa to new hydrate phases which remain stable to at least 10 GPa. This implies that the methane in the primordial core of Titan remained in stable hydrate phases throughout differentiation, eventually forming a layer of methane clathrate approximately 100 km thick within the ice mantle. This layer is a plausible source for the continuing replenishment of Titan's atmospheric methane.     

A method for distinguishing and linking turbulent entrainment mixing and collision-coalescence in stratocumulus clouds

This paper presents a method to distinguish and link inhomogeneous mixing with subsequent ascent and collision-coalescence. Three stratocumulus clouds analyzed were collected over the U.S. Department of Energy’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Southern Great Plains site during the March 2000 cloud Intensive Observation Period. The criteria are presented to distinguish the two processes. Inhomogeneous mixing with subsequent ascent is identified if cloud along an aircraft horizontal leg is non-drizzling and the relationship between cloud volume-mean radius and liquid water content is negative; in contrast, drizzling and positive relationship between the above two properties are the criteria for collision-coalescence. To link the two processes, threshold function, the possibility of occurrence of collision-coalescence, is employed; the big droplets generated during the inhomogeneous mixing with subsequent ascent increase the threshold function, initiates collision-coalescence and produces drizzle drops. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study on distinguishing and linking inhomogeneous mixing with subsequent ascent and collision-coalescence based on observational data.     

A wind origin for Titan's haze structure

Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, is the only satellite in the Solar System with a dense atmosphere. Titan's atmosphere is mainly nitrogen with a surface pressure of 1.5 atmospheres and a temperature of 95 K (ref. 1). A seasonally varying haze, which appears to be the main source of heating and cooling that drives atmospheric circulation, shrouds the moon. The haze has numerous features that have remained unexplained. There are several layers, including a 'polar hood', and a pronounced hemispheric asymmetry. The upper atmosphere rotates much faster than the surface of the moon, and there is a significant latitudinal temperature asymmetry at the equinoxes. Here we describe a numerical simulation of Titan's atmosphere, which appears to explain the observed features of the haze. The critical new factor in our model is the coupling of haze formation with atmospheric dynamics, which includes a component of strong positive feedback between the haze and the winds.     

An overview of the descent and landing of the Huygens probe on Titan

Titan, Saturn's largest moon, is the only Solar System planetary body other than Earth with a thick nitrogen atmosphere. The Voyager spacecraft confirmed that methane was the second-most abundant atmospheric constituent in Titan's atmosphere, and revealed a rich organic chemistry, but its cameras could not see through the thick organic haze. After a seven-year interplanetary journey on board the Cassini orbiter, the Huygens probe was released on 25 December 2004. It reached the upper layer of Titan's atmosphere on 14 January and landed softly after a parachute descent of almost 2.5 hours. Here we report an overview of the Huygens mission, which enabled studies of the atmosphere and surface, including in situ sampling of the organic chemistry, and revealed an Earth-like landscape. The probe descended over the boundary between a bright icy terrain eroded by fluvial activity--probably due to methane-and a darker area that looked like a river- or lake-bed. Post-landing images showed centimetre-sized surface details.     

Contribution of cloud condensate to surface rainfall process

Contribution of cloud condensate to surface rainfall processes is investigated in a life span of tropical convection based on hourly data from a two-dimensional cloud resolving simulation. The model is forced by the large-scale vertical velocity, zonal wind and horizontal advections obtained from tropical ocean global atmosphere coupled ocean-atmosphere response experiment (TOGA COARE). The results show that during the genesis, development, and decay of tropical convection, calculations with water vapor overestimate surface rain rate, and cloud condensate plays an important role in correcting overestimation in surface rain rates. The analysis is carried out in deep convective clouds and anvil clouds during the development of tropical convection. The surface rain rates calculated with water vapor in deep convective clouds and anvil clouds have similar magnitudes, the large surface rain rate appears in deep convective clouds due to the consumption of water hydrometeors whereas the small surface rain rate occurs in anvil clouds because of the gain of ice hydrometeors. Further analysis of the grid data shows that the surface rain rates calculated with water vapor and with cloud condensate are negatively correlated with the correlation coefficient of -0.85, and the surface rain rate calculated with cloud condensate is mainly contributed to the water hydrometeors in the tropical deep convective regime.     

利用CloudSat和MODIS数据研究气溶胶对层积云的影响

利用CloudSat的云雷达数据研究了太平洋东部副热带地区的层积云微物理特性。结果显示, CloudSat反演的云滴数浓度在垂直方向变化很小。结合CloudSat的云雷达数据和MODIS的气溶胶数据, 研究了气溶胶对层积云的微物理特性和液态水路径的影响。结果表明: 对于相同的液态水路径, 气溶胶增加可以使得云滴的尺度减小, 但总体上对云滴尺度的影响并不显著; 由于云中液态水路径本身变化极大, 导致气溶胶对液态水路径的影响很难和云中液态水路径本身的变化分离开。此外还发现: CloudSat反演的层积云液态水路径比MODIS反演的液态水路径偏高; 层积云内液态水路径的不均一性比环境气溶胶光学厚度的不均一性大。     

基于卫星云图的DBSCAN聚类云团分类方法

针对云分类问题提出一种新的云团分类方法.该方法先利用风云二号静止气象卫星实时云图图像资料建立多种云和地表类型的样本库,提取分析已知样本的光谱特征和纹理特征;再使用中值滤波器对云图进行预处理,并采用具有噪声的基于密度的聚类算法对云区聚类;最后对聚类得到的云团光谱特征和纹理特征进行匹配,确定云团所属的云类别.实验结果表明,该方法以云团为单位进行划分,易实现云团分类自动化.     

No oceans on Titan from the absence of a near-infrared specular reflection

With its substantial atmosphere of nitrogen, hydrocarbons and nitriles, Saturn's moon Titan is a unique planetary satellite. Photochemical processing of the gaseous constituents produces an extended haze that obscures the surface. Soon after the Voyager fly-bys in 1980 and 1981 photochemical models led to the conclusion that there should be enough liquid methane/ethane/nitrogen to cover the surface to a depth of several hundred metres. Recent Earth-based radar echoes imply that surface liquid may be present at a significant fraction of the locations sampled. Here we present ground-based observations (at near-infrared wavelengths) and calculations showing that there is no evidence thus far for surface liquid. Combined with the specular signatures from radar observations, we infer mechanisms that produce very flat solid surfaces, involving a substance that was liquid in the past but is not in liquid form at the locations we studied.