John M. Barbara

Imaging of Titan from the Cassini spacecraft

Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, is the only satellite in the Solar System with a substantial atmosphere. The atmosphere is poorly understood and obscures the surface, leading to intense speculation about Titans nature. Here we present observations of Titan from the imaging science experiment onboard the Cassini spacecraft that address some of these issues. The images reveal intricate surface albedo features that suggest aeolian, tectonic and fluvial processes; they also show a few circular features that could be impact structures. These observations imply that substantial surface modification has occurred over Titans history. We have not directly detected liquids on the surface to date. Convective clouds are found to be common near the south pole, and the motion of mid-latitude clouds consistently indicates eastward winds, from which we infer that the troposphere is rotating faster than the surface. A detached haze at an altitude of 500 km is 150–200 km higher than that observed by Voyager, and more tenuous haze layers are also resolved.

Rapid and Extensive Surface Changes Near Titan’s Equator: Evidence of April Showers

The Cassini spacecraft detected signs of recent methane rainfall on Titan’s arid equatorial surface. Although there is evidence that liquids have flowed on the surface at Titan’s equator in the past, to date, liquids have only been confirmed on the surface at polar latitudes, and the vast expanses of dunes that dominate Titan’s equatorial regions require a predominantly arid climate. We report the detection by Cassini’s Imaging Science Subsystem of a large low-latitude cloud system early in Titan’s northern spring and extensive surface changes (spanning more than 500,000 square kilometers) in the wake of this storm. The changes are most consistent with widespread methane rainfall reaching the surface, which suggests that the dry channels observed at Titan’s low latitudes are carved by seasonal precipitation.

Dynamics of Saturn's South Polar Vortex

The camera onboard the Cassini spacecraft has allowed us to observe many of Saturns cloud features. We present observations of Saturns south polar vortex (SPV) showing that it shares some properties with terrestrial hurricanes: cyclonic circulation, warm central region (the eye) surrounded by a ring of high clouds (the eye wall), and convective clouds outside the eye. The polar location and the absence of an ocean are major differences. It also shares properties with the polar vortices on Venus, such as polar location, cyclonic circulation, warm center, and long lifetime, but the Venus vortices have cold collars and are not associated with convective clouds. The SPVs combination of properties is unique among vortices in the solar system

Titan's Meteorology Over the Cassini Mission: Evidence for Extensive Subsurface Methane Reservoirs

Cassini-Huygens mission, a cooperative endeavor of NASA; ESA; ASI; NASA; Cassini-Huygens grant [NNX13AG28G]; Institut Universitaire de France; UnivEarthS LabEx program of Sorbonne Paris Cite [ANR-10-LABX-0023, ANR-11IDEX-0005-02]; French National Research Agency [ANR-APOSTIC-11-BS56-002, ANR-12-BS05-001-3/EXO-DUNES]

An Objective Classification of Saturn Cloud Features from Cassini ISS Images

Abstract A k-means clustering algorithm is applied to Cassini Imaging Science Subsystem continuum and methane band images of Saturns northern hemisphere to objectively classify regional albedo features and aid in their dynamical interpretation. The procedure is based on a technique applied previously to visible-infrared images of Earth. It provides a new perspective on giant planet cloud morphology and its relationship to the dynamics and a meteorological context for the analysis of other types of simultaneous Saturn observations. The method identifies 6 clusters that exhibit distinct morphology, vertical structure, and preferred latitudes of occurrence. These correspond to areas dominated by deep convective cells; low contrast areas, some including thinner and thicker clouds possibly associated with baroclinic instability; regions with possible isolated thin cirrus clouds; darker areas due to thinner low level clouds or clearer skies due to downwelling, or due to absorbing particles; and fields of relatively shallow cumulus clouds. The spatial associations among these cloud types suggest that dynamically, there are three distinct types of latitude bands on Saturn: deep convectively disturbed latitudes in cyclonic shear regions poleward of the eastward jets; convectively suppressed regions near and surrounding the westward jets; and baroclinically unstable latitudes near eastward jet cores and in the anti-cyclonic regions equatorward of them. These are roughly analogous to some of the features of Earths tropics, subtropics, and midlatitudes, respectively. This classification may be more useful for dynamics purposes than the traditional belt-zone partitioning. Temporal variations of feature contrast and cluster occurrence suggest that the upper tropospheric haze in the northern hemisphere may have thickened by 2014. The results suggest that routine use of clustering may be a worthwhile complement to many different types of planetary atmospheric data analysis.