Titan's plasma environment is variable due to two different causes. The variability of the solar wind has the consequence that Titan may be located in the outer magnetosphere, the magnetosheath, or the interplanetary medium around noon Saturnian local time. Additionally, there are local time variations in Saturn's magnetosphere. We have calculated the location of the stagnation point of Saturn's magnetosphere rst = 16--26 Rs assuming a terrestrial type magnetosphere. Typical plasma parameters along the orbit of Titan are shown for high solar wind pressure. The magnetoplasma incident on Titan will be generally be subsonic, subalfve;anic in the tail, transsonic, transalfv¿nic in the outer magnetosphere, and subsonic, superalfv¿nic in the magnetosheath. During crossings of the Saturnian magnetopause or bow shock by Titan we expect abrupt changes of the flow direction and stagnation pressure and rapid associated changes in Titan's uppermost atmosphere. |