|
|
The study of Titan's dense mysterious atmosphere in the frame of the Cassini/Huygens mission is exiting in many ways, since it represents a prebiotic nitrogen atmosphere with aerosols, methane clouds and exotic surface environment which provides a reference laboratory to study, by default, the role of liquid water in the origin of life. The formation of some important complex organic molecules could only be explained if electrical discharges and/or lightning strokes act as energy sources. The significance of lightning generated biochemistry in Titan's atmosphere depend on the generation of lightning discharges and the global lightning frequency. Additionally the IWF investigates in lightning studies the propagation, absorption and reflection characteristic of electromagnetic waves in Titan's atmosphere which may have their origin in lightning strokes.
An investigation of Titan's atmospheric composition shows huge enrichments of certain isotopes like 15N which lead to conclusions that the early atmosphere was much denser and exposed to a very strong solar particle flux during the first 500 million years after the origin of the solar system. Studies on such isotope anomalies in Titan's atmosphere are not only relevant for the atmosphere evolution of Saturn's huge satellite. They indicate also that our early Sun underwent a so-called Post-T-Tauri phase which had consequences for the whole solar system.
Furthermore, IWF is involved in the Titan team "Titan, a scale planetary laboratory" at the International Space Science Institute ISSI in Bern, Switzerland. The main task of the IWF contribution to this ISSI team is the study of plasma interaction processes and the possible appearance of plasma instabilities like the Kelvin Helmholtz instability and the interchange instability on the ionopause transition region. Both instabilities can trigger ionospheric clouds and viscous atmospheric loss processes as well as thermospheric heating, which can change the number density in Titan's upper atmosphere and as a result the entry trajectory of the Huygens probe. Further information is found at ISSI.
|
 |
| |
| 1. |
Hamelin et al.:
Comment on “Evidence of electrical activity on Titan drawn from the Schumann resonances sent by Huygens probe” by Morente et al.,
Icarus,
204,
349-351,doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2009.01.031,
2009.
|
| |
| |
| 2. |
Mingalev et al.:
Numerical simulation of circulation of the Titan’s atmosphere: Interpretation of measurements of the Huygens probe,
Cosmic Res.,
47,
114–125, doi:10.1134/S0010952509020038,
2009.
|
| |
| |
| 3. |
López-Moreno et al.:
Structure of Titan’s low altitude ionized layer from the Relaxation Probe onboard HUYGENS,
Geophys. Res. Lett.,
35,
L22104, doi:10.1029/2008GL035338,
2008.
|
| |
| |
| 4. |
Mingalev et al.:
First simulation results of Titan´s atmosphere dynamics with a global 3-D non-hydrostatic circulation model,
Ann. Geophys.,
24,
2115-2129,
2006.
|
| |
| |
| 5. |
Atkinson et al.:
Huygens probe entry and descent trajectory analysis and reconstruction techniques,
Planet. Space Sci.,
53,
586–593,
2005.
|
| |
| |
| 6. |
Kazeminejad et al.:
Simulation results of the Huygens entry and descent trajectory reconstruction,
In: Proc. 2nd Int. Planetary Probe Workshop,
NASA Center for Aerospace Information,
Hanover, USA,
171-177,
2005.
|
| |
| |
| 7. |
Kazeminejad et al.:
Temperature variations in Titan’s upper atmosphere: Impact on Cassini/Huygens,
Ann. Geophys.,
23,
1183–1189,
2005.
|
| |
| |
| 8. |
Mingalev et al.:
Simulation of Titan’s Atmosphere Dynamics with a Global 3D Non-hydrostatic Circulation Model,
submitted to Planet. Space Sci.,
2005.
|
| |
| |
| 9. |
Penz et al.:
The influence of the solar particle and radiation environment on Titan´s atmosphere evolution,
Adv. Space Res.,
36,
241-250,
2005.
|
| |
| |
| 10. |
Fischer et al.:
Energy dissipation of possible Titan lightning strokes,
Planet. Space Sci.,
52,
447–458,
2004.
|
| |
| |
| 11. |
Morente et al.:
A study of the propagation of electromagnetic waves in Titan's atmosphere with the TLM numerical method,
Icarus,
162,
374-384,
2003.
|
| |
|
|
