The processes of dissociation and dissociative ionization of molecular
nitrogen - the basic neutral constituent of the upper atmosphere of
Titan - are among the main sources of suprathermal nitrogen atoms in the
ground ^4S and the metastable ^2D electronic state. These hot nitrogen
atoms with excess kinetic energy play important roles in local
processes of atmospheric photochemistry, as well as in dynamical
processes of hot-nitrogen-corona formation and of nonthermal escape of
gas to Saturn's magnetosphere. In this study, the kinetics of the
production of suprathermal nitrogen atoms in the upper atmosphere of
Titan is investigated in detail. This process results from the
dissociation and dissociative ionization of molecular nitrogen by hard
solar UV radiation and by the accompanying flux of high-energy
photoelectrons. Kinetic production rates and kinetic-energy
distributions are calculated for suprathermal nitrogen atoms in states
^4S and ^2D. These characteristics will be used to refine the rates of
the endothermic photochemical reactions, to study the processes of the
formation of Titan's hot nitrogen corona, and to determine the fluxes
of neutral particles escaping the atmosphere of Titan.