Investigation of energetic proton penetration in Titanʹs atmosphere using the Cassini INCA instrument

Saturnʹs largest moon, Titan, provides an interesting opportunity to study how dense atmospheres interact with the surrounding plasma environment. Without an intrinsic magnetic field, this satelliteʹs nitrogen-rich atmosphere is relatively unprotected from plasma interactions. Therefore, the energy-deposition rate is important for understanding chemistry and dynamics in Titanʹs atmosphere. Since the plasma environment can vary significantly we focus here on the T18 Titan encounter using in-situ data from instruments on board the Cassini spacecraft. These instruments cannot provide in-situ information below the spacecraft closest approach altitude (∼>960 km) so we use the Cassini magnetospheric imaging instrument (MIMI) ion-neutral camera (INCA) to remotely image energetic hydrogen particle fluxes (20–80 keV) at altitudes below Titan closest approach. We also use the MIMI low-energy magnetosphere measurements system (LEMMS) to measure the incident ion fluxes as the spacecraft approaches Titan and combine these data sets with an atmospheric model to first reproduce INCA images. We then use this model to calculate the energy-deposition profiles for the observed incident proton flux. Our model is able to reproduce the INCA observations and give the energy density deposited vs. altitude in Titanʹs atmosphere; however, we find that the incident fluxes and energy-deposition profiles vary significantly during the encounter.