Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
5487024 | Icarus | 2017 | 6 Pages |
Abstract
Wind shear measured by Doppler tracking of the Huygens probe is evaluated, and found to be within the range anticipated by pre-flight assessments (namely less than two times the Brunt-Väisälä frequency). The strongest large-scale shear encountered was â¼5Â m/s/km, a level associated with 'Light' turbulence in terrestrial aviation. Near-surface winds (below 4Â km) have small-scale fluctuations of â¼0.1Â m/s on 1Â s timescales, indicated both by probe tilt and Doppler tracking, and the characteristics of the fluctuation, of interest for future missions to Titan, can be reproduced with a simple autoregressive (AR(1)) model. The turbulent dissipation rate at an altitude of â¼500Â m is found to be â¼0.2Â cm2/s3, which may be a useful benchmark for atmospheric circulation models.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Earth and Planetary Sciences
Space and Planetary Science
Authors
Ralph D. Lorenz,