The meteorology of TitanCurrent knowledge of Titan's meteorology is reviewed, including diagnostic inferences of the large scale wind field and prognostic studies of thermal and momentum balances. Titan's winds were largely inferred from temperature maps whose spatial coverage is incomplete. The inferred winds are cyclostrophic, approximately 75 m/s in the upper stratosphere. The direction of the winds is ambiguous from the temperature data, but arguments based on the spin up of a planetary atmosphere from an initial state of rest strongly suggest that Titan's winds blow predominantly in the direction of the planetary rotation. Stratospheric temperatures exhibit a north-south asymmetry, suggesting that seasonal variations are controlled by a dynamical inertia associated with the need to transport angular momentum as well as heat. A consideration of the global angular momentum balance indicates that the zonally averaged winds near the surface are approximately 0.3 m/s.
Document ID
19920023116
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Flasar, F. M. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Conrath, Barney J. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)