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Highlights • We derived vertically-resolved spectral structures of Saturnian polar haze between 375 and 925 km altitude. • The polar haze is dominated by aromatic hydrocarbons. • The haze at lower latitudes mostly consists of aliphatic hydrocarbons. • There is a possibility that the aging process of haze can occur during both horizontal and vertical migrations. Abstract We analyzed the 3-µm emission spectra of Saturn's southern auroral atmosphere observed by the Visual Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) on-board Cassini. Extracting adjacent 3-µm H 3 + , CH 4 , and C 2 H 6 emissions, we derived vertically-resolved spectral structures of polar haze between 375 and 925 km altitude. A comparison of the derived polar haze spectra with those of the relatively low-altitudinal (257–520 km) and low-latitudinal haze reported by Kim et al. (2012) indicates that the polar haze is dominated by aromatic hydrocarbons while the haze at lower latitudes mostly consists of aliphatic hydrocarbons. This spectral and chemical variation in the different latitudinal regions suggests a possibility that newly created haze particles at the high altitudes in the auroral regions of Saturn undergo an aging process during latitudinal advection and diffusion from the polar atmosphere to the low altitude and low latitudinal regions, while in the atmosphere of Titan, the aging process occurs during the vertical precipitation process of haze (Courtin et al., 2015a). However, there is a possibility that the aging process can occur during both the horizontal and vertical migrations. Thus, further investigation of the 3-µm spectral structure of the high-altitude haze (>520 km) at low latitudes is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We have reanalyzed the high-resolution spectrum of Titan between 2.87 and 3.12 μm observed with NIRSPEC/Keck II on 2001 Nov. 21 in southern summer, using updated CH3D and C2H6 line-by-line models. From new synthetic spectra, we identify all but a few of the previously unidentified significant absorption spectral features in this wavelength range as due to these two species, both of which had been previously detected by Voyager and ground-based observations at other wavelengths. We also derive opacities and reflectivities of haze particles as functions of altitude for the 2.87–2.92 μm wavelength range, where Titan''s atmosphere is partially transparent down to the surface. The extinction per unit altitude is observed to increase from 100 km (∼8 mbar) toward lower altitude. The derived total optical depth is approximately 1.1 for the 2.87–2.92 μm range. At wavelengths increasing beyond 2.92 μm the haze layers become much more optically thick, and the surface is rapidly hidden from view. These conclusions apply to equatorial and southern-temperate regions on Titan, excluding polar regions. We also find it unlikely that there is a large enhancement of the tropospheric CH4 mole fraction over the value reported from analysis of the Huygens/GCMS observations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]