T82 Flyby (February 19, 2012 / Rev 161), CIRS checks if springtime is in the air Options

[Juramike]

T82 Flyby page: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/files/20120219_...y_quicklook.pdf

CICLOPS Rev 161 Looking ahead article: http://www.ciclops.org/view/7080/Rev161?js=1

[Juramike]

Why is CIRS data so interesting?

It can be used to determine upper atmospheric temperatures. Once you have the temperature profile, it can be used as the background and the teeny specific IR absorptions of the different molecule components can be teased out. Then you can see where the atmospheric components are located, their relative concentrations, and how they change with time.

Here is a cool summary of some earlier CIRS data and how it was used to infer atmospheric circulation (or barrier to circulation): http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/scitech/displa...amp;FIELDNAMES=

Note how cyanoacetylene (NC-CC-H) concentration spans over 2 orders of magnitude at the same altitude. (Figure 3 middle plot on right).

Titan is sophisticated.