9417368 Tomasko The PI and his collaborators propose to continue with their study of aerosols and cloud structures in the atmospheres of Titan, Saturn, and Uranus. The objective is to determine the optical properties of those three planetary bodies, the vertical and horizontal distributions of the cloud and aerosol particles present in their atmospheres, and the atmospheric microphysics. The data will be obtained through ground-based and HST observations. From the observations and modeling, the investigators expect to improve our knowledge of the composition and chemistry of the bodies' atmospheres; and of how cloud and aerosol particles interact with solar and thermal radiation to modify the atmospheric heat balance, affect the atmospheric dynamics, and control the scattering and emission of solar and planetary radiation. The proposed research is timely because of the plane-crossing of Saturn's rings in 1995/96 (which virtually eliminates the usual light pollution by the rings and which will not repeat until 2038); it is broad because of its mutli-observatory data acquisition plan; and, despite its focus on three rather different planetary bodies, it has a unifying theme through its focus on the effects of cloud and aerosol particles on atmospheric structure and evolution.

Agency
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Institute
Division of Astronomical Sciences (AST)
Application #
9417368
Program Officer
Eileen D. Friel
Project Start
Project End
Budget Start
1995-03-15
Budget End
1998-12-31
Support Year
Fiscal Year
1994
Total Cost
$170,000
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Arizona
Department
Type
DUNS #
City
Tucson
State
AZ
Country
United States
Zip Code
85721