THE TROPOSPHERE

The troposphere is the lowest and densest part of the atmosphere and is characterised by a
decrease in temperature with altitude.[1] The temperature falls from about 320 K at the base of the
troposphere at −300 km to about 53 K at 50 km.[2][17] The temperature at the cold upper boundary of
the troposphere (the tropopause) actually varies in the range between 49 and 57 K depending on
planetary latitude, with the lowest temperature reached near 25° southern latitude.[38][39] The
troposphere holds almost all of the mass of the atmosphere, and the tropopause region is also
responsible for the vast majority of the planet’s thermal far infrared emissions, thus determining
its effective temperature of 59.1±0.3 K.[39][40]

The troposphere is believed to possess a highly complex cloud structure; water clouds are
hypothesised to lie in the pressure range of 50 to 300 bar, ammonium hydrosulfide clouds in the
range of 20 and 40 bar, ammonia or hydrogen sulfide clouds at between 3 and 10 bar and finally
thin methane clouds at 1 to 2 bar.[2][22][25] Although Voyager 2 directly detected methane clouds,[23] all
other cloud layers remain speculative. The existence of a hydrogen sulfide cloud layer is only
possible if the ratio of sulfur and nitrogen abundances (S/N ratio) is significantly greater than its solar
value of 0.16.[22] Otherwise all hydrogen sulfide would react with ammonia, producing ammonium
hydrosulfide, and the ammonia clouds would appear instead in the pressure range 3–10 bar.[26] The
elevated S/N ratio implies depletion of ammonia in the pressure range 20–40 bar, where the
ammonium hydrosulfide clouds form. These can result from the dissolution of ammonia in water
droplets within water clouds or in the deep water-ammonia ionic ocean.[25][26]

The exact location of the upper two cloud layers is somewhat controversial. Methane clouds
were directly detected by Voyager 2 at 1.2–1.3 bar by radio occultation.[23] This result was later
confirmed by an analysis of the Voyager 2 limb images.[22] The top of the deeper ammonia/hydrogen
sulfide clouds were determined to be at 3 bar based on the spectroscopic data in the visible and
near-infra spectral ranges (0.5–1 μm).[41] However a recent analysis of the spectroscopic data in the
wavelength range 1–2.3 μm placed the methane cloudtops at 2 bar, and the top of the lower clouds
at 6 bar.[42] This contradiction may be resolved when new data on methane absorption in Uranus's
atmosphere are available.[b] The optical depth of the two upper cloud layers varies with latitude: both
become thinner at the poles as compared to the equator, though in 2007 the methane cloud layer's
optical depth had a local maximum at 45°S, where the southern polar collar is located (see below).[45]