elib
DLR-Header
DLR-Logo -> http://www.dlr.de
DLR Portal Home | Impressum | Datenschutz | Kontakt | English
Schriftgröße: [-] Text [+]

Titan's lakes and Mare observed by the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer

Brown, Robert H. und Soderblom, L.A. und Sotin, C. und Barnes, Jason W. und Hayes, A. und Lawrence, K.J. und Le Mouelic, S. und Rodriguez, S. und Soderblom, Jason M. und Baines, K. H. und Buratti, B.J. und Clark, R. N. und Jaumann, R. und Nicholson, P. D. und Stephan, K. (2012) Titan's lakes and Mare observed by the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer. In: Copernicus. EGU 2012, 2012-04-22 - 2012-04-27, Wien, Österreich.

[img]
Vorschau
PDF
38kB

Kurzfassung

Titan is the only place, besides Earth, that holds stable liquid bodies at its surface. The large Kraken Mare, first seen by ISS [1], was then observed by the radar instrument that discovered a large number of small lakes as well as two other Mare [2]. The liquid nature of these radar-dark features was later confirmed by the specular reflection observed by the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) over Kraken Mare [3] and by the very low albedo at 5-micron over Ontario Lacus [4]. The three largest lakes are called Mare and are all located in the North Pole area. It is remarkable that most of these lakes have been observed on the North Pole with only one large lake, Ontario lacus, located in the South Pole area. This observation suggests the influence of orbital parameters on the meteorology and the occurrence of rainfalls to refill the depressions [5]. Ethane was detected by the VIMS instrument as one component of Ontario lacus [4]. These lakes and Mare play a key role in Titan's meteorology as demonstrated by recent global circulation models [6]. Determining the composition and the evolution of those lakes has become a primary science objective of the Cassini extended mission. Since Titan entered northern spring in August 2009, the North Pole has been illuminated allowing observations at optical wavelengths. On June 5, 2010 the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) onboard the Cassini spacecraft observed the northern pole area with a pixel size from 3 to 7 km. These observations demonstrate that little of the solar flux at 5-micron is scattered by the atmosphere, which allowed us to build a mosaic covering an area of more than 500,000 km2 that overlaps and complements observations made by the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) in 2007. We find that there is an excellent correlation between the shape of the radar dark area, known as Ligeia Mare and the VIMS 5-micron dark unit. Matching most of the radar shoreline, the 2010 VIMS observations suggest that the 125,000-km2 surface area of Ligeia Mare measured by RADAR in 2007 has not significantly changed [7]. The analysis of the 2-micron spectral window confirms the presence of ethane [8]. Because its saturation vapor pressure is several orders of magnitude smaller than that of methane, liquid ethane is expected to be very stable at Titan's surface conditions, which could explain the stability of the shorelines if ethane is the major compound of the lakes. VIMS observations of Ontario Lacus are planned in 2012 before it disappears in the polar night. Several observations of the northern lakes are planned in 2012 as well as observations of the Mare later in the mission. This work has been performed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract to NASA. Government sponsorship acknowledged.

elib-URL des Eintrags:https://elib.dlr.de/80544/
Dokumentart:Konferenzbeitrag (NICHT SPEZIFIZIERT)
Titel:Titan's lakes and Mare observed by the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer
Autoren:
AutorenInstitution oder E-Mail-AdresseAutoren-ORCID-iDORCID Put Code
Brown, Robert H.Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USANICHT SPEZIFIZIERTNICHT SPEZIFIZIERT
Soderblom, L.A.United States Geological Survey, Flagstaff, AZNICHT SPEZIFIZIERTNICHT SPEZIFIZIERT
Sotin, C.University of Nantes, Nantes, FranceNICHT SPEZIFIZIERTNICHT SPEZIFIZIERT
Barnes, Jason W.Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USANICHT SPEZIFIZIERTNICHT SPEZIFIZIERT
Hayes, A.CaltechNICHT SPEZIFIZIERTNICHT SPEZIFIZIERT
Lawrence, K.J.Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109, USANICHT SPEZIFIZIERTNICHT SPEZIFIZIERT
Le Mouelic, S.Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique, 2 rue de la Houssinière, 44322 NantesNICHT SPEZIFIZIERTNICHT SPEZIFIZIERT
Rodriguez, S.Laboratoire AIM, FranceNICHT SPEZIFIZIERTNICHT SPEZIFIZIERT
Soderblom, Jason M.Department of Planetary Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USANICHT SPEZIFIZIERTNICHT SPEZIFIZIERT
Baines, K. H.Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, USANICHT SPEZIFIZIERTNICHT SPEZIFIZIERT
Buratti, B.J.Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CANICHT SPEZIFIZIERTNICHT SPEZIFIZIERT
Clark, R. N.US Geological Survey, Denver, CO, USANICHT SPEZIFIZIERTNICHT SPEZIFIZIERT
Jaumann, R.ralf.jaumann (at) dlr.deNICHT SPEZIFIZIERTNICHT SPEZIFIZIERT
Nicholson, P. D.Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USANICHT SPEZIFIZIERTNICHT SPEZIFIZIERT
Stephan, K.katrin.stephan (at) dlr.deNICHT SPEZIFIZIERTNICHT SPEZIFIZIERT
Datum:April 2012
Erschienen in:Copernicus
Open Access:Ja
Gold Open Access:Nein
In SCOPUS:Nein
In ISI Web of Science:Nein
Status:veröffentlicht
Stichwörter:Titan
Veranstaltungstitel:EGU 2012
Veranstaltungsort:Wien, Österreich
Veranstaltungsart:internationale Konferenz
Veranstaltungsbeginn:22 April 2012
Veranstaltungsende:27 April 2012
HGF - Forschungsbereich:Luftfahrt, Raumfahrt und Verkehr
HGF - Programm:Raumfahrt
HGF - Programmthema:Erforschung des Weltraums
DLR - Schwerpunkt:Raumfahrt
DLR - Forschungsgebiet:R EW - Erforschung des Weltraums
DLR - Teilgebiet (Projekt, Vorhaben):R - Vorhaben CASSINI (alt)
Standort: Berlin-Adlershof
Institute & Einrichtungen:Institut für Planetenforschung > Planetengeologie
Hinterlegt von: Aydin, Zeynep
Hinterlegt am:11 Jan 2013 13:53
Letzte Änderung:24 Apr 2024 19:47

Nur für Mitarbeiter des Archivs: Kontrollseite des Eintrags

Blättern
Suchen
Hilfe & Kontakt
Informationen
electronic library verwendet EPrints 3.3.12
Gestaltung Webseite und Datenbank: Copyright © Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR). Alle Rechte vorbehalten.