The atmospheric vertical structure in the Saturn polar hexagon: Insights from Cassini and ground-based data in the visible and near-infrared

Saturn's polar hexagon is a very stable atmospheric feature discovered by the Voyager spacecraft at the boundary of the northern polar cap. Many studies have been devoted to the measurement of wind speed across this structure, but detailed quantitative retrievals of atmospheric parameters and their vertical distribution is actually missing. We will report a work in progress based on the analysis of data from Cassini (VIMS, ISS) and ground-based observations (IRTF-SpeX). We will mainly focus on the variations of clouds and hazes vertical profiles and microphysics, and those of the abundances of trace gases to which the near-infrared wavelengths are sensitive (phosphine, ammonia, CH3D, water, etc.). These quantities can also be used as tracers of atmospheric motions and can help in constraining a comprehensive dynamical framework.