Upcoming SwRI Boulder Colloquia

Colloquia are normally on Tuesdays at 11:00 am in the 4th-floor conference room, except as indicated below in bold text.
Show previous colloquia
Suggest a New Speaker

For questions or suggestions for speakers, please contact the SwRI colloquium organizers:
Raluca Rufu, 303-226-0879 or raluca(at)boulder.swri.edu
Julien Salmon, 720-208-7203 or julien(at)boulder.swri.edu
Kelsi Singer, 303-226-5910 or ksinger(at)boulder.swri.edu
Sierra Ferguson, sierra.ferguson(at)swri.org
Rogerio Deienno, rogerio.deienno(at)swri.org
Sam Van Kooten, 303-226-5909 or svankooten(at)boulder.swri.edu

To be added to the SwRI Boulder Colloquia email list, please contact Kelsi Singer, ksinger(at)boulder.swri.edu

Suggest a New Speaker HERE

Tue Jun 17, 2025
In Room 4.615 11:00 am Juan Lora Yale University Insights into Titan’s coupled climate system and methane cycle

Tue Jun 24, 2025 11:00 am Prachi Chavan Diego Portales University From Disks to Comets: A Multi-frequency Study of Dust from Ophiuchus Molecular Cloud to the Oort Cloud

Tue Jul 15, 2025
In Room 4.615 11:00 am Jacob Shultis Johns Hopkins University The Dynamics and Transport of the Stratospheric Polar Vortices on Titan

Abstract: Polar vortices are a prominent feature in the stratosphere of Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, and are thought to play a major role in the transport of hydrocarbons throughout the middle atmosphere. Detailed observations of the temperature and composition of the northern polar vortex were made by the Cassini spacecraft from 2005 - 2017; however due to the length of a Titan year, these observations only covered from the northern mid-winter to the southern winter solstice, missing a large portion of the seasonal cycle of the polar vortex and leaving many open questions regarding the movement of material into and out of the polar regions. Therefore, this work was developed to bridge the gap left behind by observations and utilize atmospheric modeling to answer these questions. By analyzing a TitanWRF general circulation model (GCM) simulation covering a full Titan-year, it was revealed that the polar vortices of both hemispheres undergo a non-monotonic seasonal evolution, with a minimum in polar vortex strength occurring between the winter solstice and spring equinox, forming an annular potential vorticity structure. This structure was hypothesized to be less stable and potentially allow material to escape the polar regions, so an analysis of both 2D shallow-water and 3D GCM simulations was done to show that annular and monopolar polar vortices both maintain a horizontal mixing barrier throughout the entire lifetime of the polar vortex, which isolates the polar regions from the mid-latitudes. Finally, using the TitanWRF and TAM GCMs, it was shown that the seasonal evolution of Titan’s polar vortex facilitates the movement of hydrocarbon depleted air from the lower latitudes poleward in the upper stratosphere, allowing the transport of air over top of the polar vortex and associated mixing barrier in the mid-winter but not in the fall or late-winter. This complete study revealed that Titan’s polar vortex is a very dynamic and important feature of Titan’s stratosphere, and is key to understanding the observed distributions of hydrocarbons within its middle atmosphere.

Tue Jul 22, 2025
In Room 4.615 11:00 am Rutu Parekh Jet Propulsion Laboratory TBD

Tue Aug 12, 2025
In Room 4.615 11:00 am Antonio F. Bertachini A. Prado Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais - INPE TBD

Tue Aug 19, 2025
In Room 4.615 11:00 am Erin Leonard JPL TBD

Tue Jun 17, 2025 In Room 4.615	11:00 am	Juan Lora	Yale University	Insights into Titan’s coupled climate system and methane cycle
Tue Jun 24, 2025	11:00 am	Prachi Chavan	Diego Portales University	From Disks to Comets: A Multi-frequency Study of Dust from Ophiuchus Molecular Cloud to the Oort Cloud
Tue Jul 15, 2025 In Room 4.615	11:00 am	Jacob Shultis	Johns Hopkins University	The Dynamics and Transport of the Stratospheric Polar Vortices on Titan
	Abstract:	Polar vortices are a prominent feature in the stratosphere of Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, and are thought to play a major role in the transport of hydrocarbons throughout the middle atmosphere. Detailed observations of the temperature and composition of the northern polar vortex were made by the Cassini spacecraft from 2005 - 2017; however due to the length of a Titan year, these observations only covered from the northern mid-winter to the southern winter solstice, missing a large portion of the seasonal cycle of the polar vortex and leaving many open questions regarding the movement of material into and out of the polar regions. Therefore, this work was developed to bridge the gap left behind by observations and utilize atmospheric modeling to answer these questions. By analyzing a TitanWRF general circulation model (GCM) simulation covering a full Titan-year, it was revealed that the polar vortices of both hemispheres undergo a non-monotonic seasonal evolution, with a minimum in polar vortex strength occurring between the winter solstice and spring equinox, forming an annular potential vorticity structure. This structure was hypothesized to be less stable and potentially allow material to escape the polar regions, so an analysis of both 2D shallow-water and 3D GCM simulations was done to show that annular and monopolar polar vortices both maintain a horizontal mixing barrier throughout the entire lifetime of the polar vortex, which isolates the polar regions from the mid-latitudes. Finally, using the TitanWRF and TAM GCMs, it was shown that the seasonal evolution of Titan’s polar vortex facilitates the movement of hydrocarbon depleted air from the lower latitudes poleward in the upper stratosphere, allowing the transport of air over top of the polar vortex and associated mixing barrier in the mid-winter but not in the fall or late-winter. This complete study revealed that Titan’s polar vortex is a very dynamic and important feature of Titan’s stratosphere, and is key to understanding the observed distributions of hydrocarbons within its middle atmosphere.
Tue Jul 22, 2025 In Room 4.615	11:00 am	Rutu Parekh	Jet Propulsion Laboratory	TBD
Tue Aug 12, 2025 In Room 4.615	11:00 am	Antonio F. Bertachini A. Prado	Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais - INPE	TBD
Tue Aug 19, 2025 In Room 4.615	11:00 am	Erin Leonard	JPL	TBD