Cassini Uvis Observations Of Titan Ultraviolet Airglow Intensity Dependence With Solar Zenith Angle

Keywords

airglow; Titan; ultraviolet; upper atmosphere

Abstract

The Cassini Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (UVIS) observed the airglow (dayglow and nightglow) of Titan over a range of solar zenith angles (SZA) from 14 to 150° on five separate observations obtained between 2008 and 2012. The modeling of the solar cycle normalized UVIS observations indicates that a Chapman layer function provides a satisfactory fit to the intensity of the EUV and FUV airglow molecular emissions of the N2 Lyman-Birge-Hopfield band system (LBH (Formula presented.)), the Carroll-Yoshino band system ((Formula presented.)), and of several atomic multiplets of nitrogen (NI, II) as a function of SZA. This result shows that the strongest contribution to the Titan dayglow occurs by processes (photoelectrons and photodissociation) involving the solar EUV flux rather than magnetospheric particle precipitation that dominates emission excitation in the nightglow.

Publication Date

1-16-2017

Publication Title

Geophysical Research Letters

Volume

44

Issue

1

Number of Pages

88-96

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL071756

Socpus ID

85010584496 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/85010584496

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