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Detailed Reference Information |
Atreya, S.K., Kuhn, W.R. and Donahue, T.M. (1980). Saturn: Tropospheric ammonia and nitrogen. Geophysical Research Letters 7: doi: 10.1029/GL007i006p00474. issn: 0094-8276. |
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Photochemical calculations based on recent data on the Saturn temperature structure and Lyman alpha albedo indicate that detectable amounts of gaseous ammonia may exist between 20 and 35 km above the cloud tops. An instrument that might be able to observe this gas is the spectrometer on board the International Ultraviolet Explorer satellite. The calculations also yield a maximum nitrogen mixing ratio at the cloud tops between 1.8¿10-10 and 6¿10-8 by volume, depending upon the degree of supersaturation of ammonia and hydrazine. Even the lower limit could produce intense emissions if electrical discharges such as those observed on Jupiter by Voyager are also present on Saturn, or if high energy particles penetrate to the Saturnian troposphere. |
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Publisher
American Geophysical Union 2000 Florida Avenue N.W. Washington, D.C. 20009-1277 USA 1-202-462-6900 1-202-328-0566 service@agu.org |
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