Cassini Interdisciplinary Investigation:

Atmospheres: Composition, Origin, and Evolution (IDS)

IDS: Dr. Tobias C. Owen

Interdisciplinary Scientist:

General Description of Interdisciplinary Investigation:

This Cassini mission interdisciplinary scientific investigation is concerned with a comparison of the abundances and isotopic ratios of atmospheric constituents on Titan and Saturn. The investigation will make use of the Cassini/Huygens science data base to determine the detailed nature of these two atmospheres and to compare them with other known atmospheres.

Scientific Objectives of Interdisciplinary Investigation:

• Determine the atmospheric compositions for Titan and Saturn, including isotope ratios, noble gas abundances, trace element hydrides, organic molecules, and clouds and chromophores.
• Determine the nature of organic materials within Titan's atmosphere and on its surface and compare these to the surface of Phoebe and to the dark surface portions of Iapetus.
• Determine what gases originate from surface ices on Titan or the icy satellites and relate these to Titan atmospheric composition.
• Determine the abundance and distribution of trace gases in Saturn's atmosphere that might originate in Saturn's core.

For additional information on the Institute for Astronomy of the University of Hawaii, see http://galileo.ifa.hawaii.edu (University of Hawaii's IfA homepage).