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"U53A-04"

HR: 14:55h
AN: U53A-04
TI: What can we learn by comparing Earth and Titan's upper atmospheres?
AU: * Galand, M
EM: m.galand@imperial.ac.uk
AF: Imperial College London, Space and Atmospheric Physics Group Prince Consort Road, London, SW7 2BW United Kingdom
AU: Yelle, R
EM: yelle@lpl.arizona.edu
AF: Lunar and Planetary Lab, University of Arizona, 1629 E. University Blvd, Tucson, AZ 85721-0092 United States
AU: Coates, A
EM: ajc@mssl.ucl.ac.uk
AF: MSSL - UCL, Holmbury St. Mary, Dorking, Surrey, RH5 6NT United Kingdom
AU: Cunningham, E
EM: elizabeth.cunningham@imperial.ac.uk
AF: Imperial College London, Space and Atmospheric Physics Group Prince Consort Road, London, SW7 2BW United Kingdom
AU: Dougherty, M
EM: m.dougherty@imperial.ac.uk
AF: Imperial College London, Space and Atmospheric Physics Group Prince Consort Road, London, SW7 2BW United Kingdom
AB: The Saturnian moon, Titan, is the only moon in the Solar System to sustain a dense, permanent atmosphere. Its dominant atmospheric constituent, molecular nitrogen, is a major species in the terrestrial atmosphere. Earth and Titan also share a similar obliquity (near 25 degrees) yielding season cycle and a similar surface pressure (of the order of one bar). Bearing in mind this common basis, differences in distance from the Sun, in forcing from the magnetized environment and from below, in atmospheric composition (molecular nitrogen apart), and in gravity make a comparison of Earth and Titan's upper atmospheres a very relevant and constructive undertaking. Is Titan's atmosphere "just" colder than the present terrestrial atmosphere? We will present a quantitative comparison of Earth and Titan's upper atmospheres in the context of the Cassini/TA flyby. In particular, we will focus on the contribution of solar forcing and induced photoelectron flux to the upper atmospheres of both bodies. The contribution of various energy sources to Titan's upper atmosphere will be derived from comparison of modelling results against Cassini/CAPS plasma observations.
DE: 6281 Titan
DE: 2423 Ionization processes (7823)
DE: 2459 Planetary ionospheres (5435, 5729, 6026)
DE: 2479 Solar radiation and cosmic ray effects
SC: Union [U]
MN: 2006 Joint Assembly