Growth of aerosols in Titan's atmosphere and related time scales: A stochastic approach - Service d'aéronomie
Article Dans Une Revue Geophysical Research Letters Année : 2012

Growth of aerosols in Titan's atmosphere and related time scales: A stochastic approach

Pascal Rannou
  • Fonction : Auteur
  • PersonId : 958427

Résumé

The evolution of Titan's aerosols is studied from their production altitude down to the ground using a stochastic approach. A background aerosol distribution is assumed, obtained from previous Eulerian modelling, and the evolution of a “tagged” particle, released near the formation altitude, is followed by simulating in a random way its growth through coagulation with particles of the background distribution. The two distinct growth stages, proposed by Cabane et al. (1992) to explain the formation of monomers and subsequent aggregates, are confirmed. The first stage may be divided into two parts. Firstly, within ≈1 terrestrial day, particles grow mainly through collisions with larger particles. They reach their size of monomer (r m ≈0.09 µm) through typically one to five such collisions. Secondly, within a few terrestrial days to ≈1 terrestrial month, particles evolve mainly by collisions with continuously created small particles and acquire their compact spherical structure. In the second stage, whose duration is ≈30 terrestrial years, or one Titan's seasonal cycle, particles grow by cluster‐cluster aggregation during their fall through the atmosphere and reach, at low stratospheric levels, a typical radius of 0.4–0.5 µm.
Fichier principal
Vignette du fichier
ark__67375_WNG-QSMQ2SWL-2.pdf (373.95 Ko) Télécharger le fichier
Origine Fichiers éditeurs autorisés sur une archive ouverte

Dates et versions

insu-04748926 , version 1 (24-10-2024)

Licence

Copyright (Tous droits réservés)

Identifiants

Citer

Pascal Rannou, Michel Cabane, Eric Chassefière. Growth of aerosols in Titan's atmosphere and related time scales: A stochastic approach. Geophysical Research Letters, 2012, 20 (10), pp.967-970. ⟨10.1029/93GL00911⟩. ⟨insu-04748926⟩
48 Consultations
8 Téléchargements

Altmetric

Partager

More