Haze Formation is an Important Sink for HCN on Titan

Titan's organic haze is potentially an important sink of photochemically produced carbon and nitrogen compounds. An assortment of microphysical haze models all suggest that the haze production rate is 10(exp -14) gm per square centimeter per second, within a factor of two. Spectral analysis of laboratory tholins compared to Titan's geometric albedo spectrum suggest that the laboratory material is a good analog to Titan's haze. The laboratory material has an elemental composition given approximately by C4H4N, with an uncertainty in the C/N ratio of a factor of two. Thus, the haze represents a sink for C of 4 x 10(exp 8) per square centimeter per second, and a sink for N of 1 x 10(exp 8) per square centimeter per second. The C sink is small compared to condensation of hydrocarbons but the sink for N is comparable to the total production rate of HCN. Because estimates of the eddy diffusion profile on Titan have been based on the HCN profile, inclusion of this additional sink for N will affect estimates for all transport processes in Titan's atmosphere.