Thermalconductivity instrument for measuring planetary atmospheric properties anddata analysis technique

This paper outlines the method of measurement and analysis of the thermal conductivity instrument (THP) that has successfully returned measurements from the atmosphere of Saturn’s moon Titan during the descent of the Huygens probe on 14^th January 2005. The technique is validated by analysing laboratory calibration data gathered by our instrument in three pure gases (nitrogen, methane, and ethane) over Titan’s temperature range (90 to 180 K). Calibration results show errors <1% compared to reference values when processed using this method.