Observations of the temporal evolution of Saturn's stratosphere following the Great Storm of 2010-2011 I. Temporal evolution of the water abundance in Saturn's hot vortex of 2011-2013

TL;DR

This study tracks the increase in water vapour in Saturn's stratosphere after the 2010-2011 storm, revealing that haze sublimation and vertical winds significantly contributed to the water abundance increase.

Contribution

It provides the first quantitative analysis of the temporal evolution of water vapour in Saturn's storm-affected stratosphere using Herschel observations and radiative transfer models.

Findings

Water column increased by a factor of 7.5 in the beacon.

Haze sublimation and vertical winds contributed 45-85% to water increase.

Enhanced water emission cannot be explained by temperature increase alone.

Abstract

Water vapour is delivered to Saturn's stratosphere by Enceladus' plumes and subsequent diffusion in the planet system. It is expected to condense into a haze in the middle stratosphere. The hot stratospheric vortex (the `beacon') that formed as an aftermath of Saturn's Great Storm of 2010 significantly altered the temperature, composition, and circulation in Saturn's northern stratosphere. Previous photochemical models suggested haze sublimation and vertical winds as processes likely to increase the water vapour column density in the beacon. We aim to quantify the temporal evolution of stratospheric water vapour in the beacon during the storm. We mapped Saturn at 66.44 and 67.09 $\mu$m on seven occasions from July 2011 to February 2013 with the PACS instrument of the Herschel Space Observatory. The observations probe the millibar levels, at which the water condensation region was altered by the warmer temperatures in the beacon. Using radiative transfer modelling, we tested several empirical and physically based models to constrain the cause of the enhanced water emission found in the beacon. The observations show an increased emission in the beacon that cannot be reproduced only accounting for the warmer temperatures. An additional source of water vapour is thus needed. We find a factor (7.5$\pm$1.6) increase in the water column in the beacon compared to pre-storm conditions using empirical models. Combining our results with a cloud formation model for July 2011, we evaluate the sublimation contribution to 45-85% of the extra column derived from the water emission increase in the beacon. The observations confirm that the storm conditions enhanced the water abundance at the millibar levels because of haze sublimation and vertical winds in the beacon. Future work on the haze temporal evolution during the storm will help to better constrain the sublimation contribution over time.