Predicting the characteristics of thunder on Titan: A framework to assess the detectability of lightning by acoustic sensing

Abstract

The search for lightning is an important item on the agenda for the future exploration of Titan. Thunder, as a direct lightning signature, can be used, together with electromagnetic signals, to corroborate and quantify lightning. Using Cassini-Huygens data and model predictions, the main characteristics of thunder produced by a potential 20 km cloud-to-ground tortuous discharge are obtained and discussed. The acoustic power released right after the discharge decreases with increasing altitude, owing to the ambient pressure and temperature gradients. Ray tracing is used to propagate sound waves to the far field. Simulated thunder waveforms are characterized by fairly long codas—on the order of tens of seconds—arising from the small acoustic absorption (∼10−4dB/km). In the low-loss environment, the principal thunder arrival will likely have a large signal-to-noise ratio ensuring a high detection selectivity. The spectral content depends on the amount of energy released during the discharge. For an energy density of 5 kJ/m, the dominant contribution lies between 50 and 80 Hz; for 500 kJ/m, it shifts to lower frequencies between 10 and 30 Hz.