The abundance of methane relative to nitrogen increased by four to five times since 1986 due to the seasonal warming observed on Triton, which passed its southern-hemisphere solstice in 2001.

[17] In addition to the gases mentioned above, the upper atmosphere contains significant amounts of both molecular and atomic hydrogen, which is produced by the photolysis of methane.

[21] An upper limit in the low 40s (K) can be set from vapor pressure equilibrium with nitrogen gas in Triton's atmosphere.

In the 1990s it probably increased by about 1 K due to the general global warming as Triton approached the peak of its southern hemisphere summer (see below).

[4] Convection near Triton's surface heated by the Sun creates a troposphere (a "weather region") rising to an altitude of about 8 km.

[17] The upper atmosphere continuously leaks into outer space due to the weak gravity of Triton.

[26] It is believed to be composed largely of hydrocarbons and nitriles created by the action of the Sun's and stellar ultraviolet light on methane.

[7] Their direction was determined by observations of dark streaks located over the southern polar cap, which generally extend from the south-west to north-east.

[7] The gaseous nitrogen moves northward and is deflected by the Coriolis force to the east, forming an anticyclone near the surface.

[34] The proposed mechanism for the formation of dust devils is that patches of the surface without nitrogen frost would heat up more quickly than the surrounding area.

[4] Hypotheses for this warming include the sublimation of frost on Triton's surface and a decrease in ice albedo, which would allow more heat to be absorbed.

[4][40] Another theory argues the changes in temperature are a result of the deposition of dark, red material from geological processes on the moon.

Triton is a probable ocean world of very high priority because of the glimpses of activity shown from the Voyager 2 flyby.

The origin of the activity seen from Voyager is still unclear and this makes Triton very high on the list when it comes to investigating ocean planets.

[43] Trident would dramatically help in furthering knowledge of the atmosphere of Triton as well as the activity from the surface plumes captured in Voyager 2.

The presence of the saltiness of an ocean makes it conductive, which means it is detectable to magnetic induction techniques with a spacecraft in orbit.

[44] The Neptune Odyssey mission concept is a flagship-class orbiter equipped with atmospheric probes that is proposed to be sent into the Neptune–Triton system.

[1] Some measurements to be taken in this mission are: magnetic field, gravitational harmonics, spectroscopy, visible imager, ions and electrons, neutral mass spectrometry, and dust.