Measuring winds in titan's atmosphere with high-precision doppler velocimetry

Abstract

The technique of absolute velocimetry has been applied to the backscattered solar spectrum of Titan in order to measure the Doppler shift associated with the zonal circulation in the equatorial region. Eastward winds were measured, with lower limits of 62 and 50 ms-1, at altitudes near 200 and 170 km, and significant statistical evidence was observed for stronger winds at the higher altitudes. The same technique was applied in January 2005 as part of an international effort in support of the European Space Agency's Huygens Probe mission and led to wind speed values quite consistent with our previous results. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.