A preliminary assessment of the Titan planetary boundary layerResults of a preliminary assessment of the characteristic features of the Titan planetary boundary are addressed. These were derived from the combined application of a patched Ekman surface layer model and Rossby number similarity theory. Both these models together with Obukhov scaling, surface speed limits and saltation are discussed. A characteristic Akman depth of approximately 0.7 km is anticipated, with an eddy viscosity approximately equal to 1000 sq cm/s, an associated friction velocity approximately 0.01 m/s, and a surface wind typically smaller than 0.6 m/s. Actual values of these parameters probably vary by as much as a factor of two or three, in response to local temporal variations in surface roughness and stability. The saltation threshold for the windblown injection of approximately 50 micrometer particulates into the atmosphere is less than twice the nominal friction velocity, suggesting that dusty breezes might be an occassional feature of the Titan meteorology.
Document ID
19920023119
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Allison, Michael (NASA Goddard Inst. for Space Studies New York, NY, United States)