Contrasting responses to orbital precession on Titan and Earth

Abstract

Earth and Titan exhibit contrasting atmospheric responses to orbital precession. On Earth, most (water) precipitation falls in low latitudes, and precipitation is enhanced in a hemisphere when perihelion occurs in that hemisphere's summer. On Titan, most (methane) precipitation falls in high latitudes, and precipitation is enhanced in a hemisphere when aphelion occurs in that hemisphere's summer. We use a Titan general circulation model to elucidate the dynamical reasons for these different responses to orbital precession. They arise primarily because of the different diurnal rotation rates of Titan and Earth. The slower rotation rate of Titan leads to wider Hadley cells that transport moisture into polar regions. Changes in the length of summer, rather than in the intensity of summer insolation as in Earth's tropics, then dominate the precession response of the hydrologic cycle.

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