Journal Articles Icarus Year : 2006

New upper limits for hydrogen halides on Saturn derived from Cassini-CIRS data

Abstract

Far infrared spectra (10-600 cm -1) from Cassini's Composite InfraRed Spectrometer (CIRS) were used to determine improved upper limits of hydrogen halides HF, HCl, HBr, and HI in Saturn's atmosphere. Three observations, comprising a total of 3088 spectra, gave 3 sigma upper limits on HF, HCl, HBr, and HI volume mole fractions of 8.0×10, 6.7×10, 1.3×10, and 1.4×10, respectively, at the 500 mbar pressure level. These upper limits confirm sub-solar abundances of halide species for HF, HCl, and HBr in Saturn's upper atmosphere---consistent with predictions from thermochemical models and influx of material from meteoroids. Our upper limit for HCl is 16 times lower than the tentative detection at 1.1×10 reported by Weisstein and Serabyn [Weisstein, E.W., Serabyn, E., 1996. Icarus 123, 23-36]. These observations are not sensitive to the deep halide abundance, which is expected to be enriched relative to the solar composition.

Dates and versions

hal-03724120 , version 1 (15-07-2022)

Identifiers

Cite

Nicholas A. Teanby, Leigh N. Fletcher, Patrick G. J. Irwin, Thierry Fouchet, Glenn S. Orton. New upper limits for hydrogen halides on Saturn derived from Cassini-CIRS data. Icarus, 2006, 185, pp.466-475. ⟨10.1016/j.icarus.2006.07.011⟩. ⟨hal-03724120⟩
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