Air-sea interactions on Titan: effect of radiative transfer on the lake evaporation and atmospheric circulation

TL;DR

This study uses a coupled atmospheric and lake model to examine how radiative transfer influences methane evaporation, lake temperature, and atmospheric circulation on Titan, revealing the significant role of radiation despite low solar input.

Contribution

It demonstrates the importance of radiative transfer in Titan's lake-atmosphere interactions using a 2D coupled model, highlighting effects on evaporation and circulation.

Findings

Radiative transfer significantly affects methane evaporation rates.

Solar and infrared radiation alter the energy balance and increase lake temperatures.

Sea breeze enhances horizontal and vertical methane transport.

Abstract

Titan's northern high latitudes host many large hydrocarbon lakes. Like water lakes on Earth, Titan's lakes are constantly subject to evaporation. This process strongly affects the atmospheric methane abundance, the atmospheric temperature, the lake mixed layer temperature, and the local wind circulation. In this work we use a 2D atmospheric mesoscale model coupled to a slab lake model to investigate the effect of solar and infrared radiation on the exchange of energy and methane between Titan's lakes and atmosphere. The magnitude of solar radiation reaching the surface of Titan through its thick atmosphere is only a few $Wm^{-2}$. However, we find that this small energy input is important and is comparable in absolute magnitude to the latent and sensible heat fluxes, as suggested in the prior study by Rafkin and Soto (2020). The implementation of a gray radiative scheme in the model confirms the importance of radiation when studying lakes at the surface of Titan. Solar and infrared radiation change the energy balance of the system leading to an enhancement of the methane evaporation rate, an increase of the equilibrium lake temperature almost completely determined by its environment (humidity, insolation, and background wind), and a strengthening of the local sea breeze, which undergoes diurnal variations. The sea breeze efficiently transports methane vapor horizontally, from the lake to the land, and vertically due to rising motion along the sea breeze front and due to radiation-induced turbulence over the land.