The Cassini Visual And Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (Vims) Investigation

Brown, R. H.; Baines, K. H.; Bellucci, G.; Bibring, J. P.; Buratti, B. J.; Capaccioni, F.; Cerroni, P.; Clark, R. N.; Coradini, A.; Cruikshank, D. P.; Drossart, P.; Formisano, V.; Jaumann, R.; Langevin, Y.; Matson, D. L.; McCord, T. B.; Mennella, V.; Miller, Edward; Nelson, Robert M.; Nicholson, P. D.; Sicardy, B.; Sotin, C.

doi:10.1007/s11214-004-1453-x

Cited by 381 publications

(177 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…A part of the 1.6 μm window is not usable for this analysis due to a responsivity correction that is not well defined in the VIMS instrument (channels between 1.60 and 1.68 μm; Brown et al 2004;Sromovsky & Fry 2010). The 2.0 μm window cannot be fitted correctly, either due to incorrect data about methane absorption at these wavelengths or an absorption source that is missing in our model.…”

Section: Analysis Procedures and Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

CLOUD AND HAZE IN THE WINTER POLAR REGION OF TITAN OBSERVED WITH VISUAL AND INFRARED MAPPING SPECTROMETER ON BOARDCASSINI

Rannou¹,

Mouëlic²,

Sotin³

et al. 2012

ApJ

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A large cloud in the north polar region of Titan was first observed by the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) in 2005 and then in 2006. This cloud, confined beyond the latitude 62 • N, is surrounded by a mixture of aerosol and mist probably lying in the low stratosphere and troposphere. Subsequent images of this region of Titan show a gradual vanishing of this cloud which was reported previously. In this paper, we characterize the physical properties of this cloud, haze, and mist as well as their time evolutions. We note several details on the images such as a secondary cloud above the main cloud and latitudes beyond 70 • N. We also show that the cloud disappearance leaves the polar region poorly loaded in aerosols, yielding an annular zone of aerosols between 50 • N and 65 • N. Our analysis suggests that this structure observed by VIMS in the near-IR is an annular structure observed by ISS on board Voyager one Titan year ago in 1980.

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Section: Analysis Procedures and Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

CLOUD AND HAZE IN THE WINTER POLAR REGION OF TITAN OBSERVED WITH VISUAL AND INFRARED MAPPING SPECTROMETER ON BOARDCASSINI

Rannou¹,

Mouëlic²,

Sotin³

et al. 2012

ApJ

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“…Spectral mapping cubes were obtained by Cassini VIMS (Brown et al, 2004) during both the ingress and egress of the T103 flyby on 2014 Jul 20 UT, and provide views of both polar regions. We reduce the VIMS IR channels from two cubes (datasets 1784502376 1 and 1784584782 1) using the standard pipeline for calibration and determination of the viewing geometry.…”

Section: Cassini Vims Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Meridional variation in tropospheric methane on Titan observed with AO spectroscopy at Keck and VLT

Ádámkovics

Mitchell

Hayes

et al. 2016

Icarus

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The spatial distribution of the tropospheric methane on Titan was measured using near-infrared spectroscopy. Ground-based observations at 1.5 µm (H-band) were performed during the same night using instruments with adaptive optics at both the W. M. Keck Observatory and at the Paranal Observatory on 17 July 2014 UT. The integral field observations with SINFONI on the VLT covered the entire H-band at moderate resolving power, R = λ/∆λ ≈ 1, 500, while the Keck observations were performed with NIRSPAO near 1.5525 µm at higher resolution, R ≈ 25, 000. The moderate resolution observations are used for flux calibration and for the determination of model parameters that can be degenerate in the interpretation of high resolution spectra. Line-by-line calculations of CH 4 and CH 3 D correlated k distributions from the HITRAN 2012 database were used, which incorporate revised line assignments near 1.5 µm. We fit the surface albedo and aerosol distributions in the VLT SINFONI observations that cover the entire H-band window and used these quantities to constrain the models of the high-resolution Keck NIRSPAO spectra when retrieving the methane abundances. Cassini VIMS images of the polar regions, acquired on 20 July 2014 UT, are used to validate the assumption that the opacity of tropospheric aerosol is relatively uniform below 10 km. We retrieved methane abundances at latitudes between 42 • S and 80 • N. The tropospheric methane in the Southern mid-latitudes was enhanced by a factor of ∼10-40% over the nominal profile that was measured using the GCMS on Huygens. The Northern hemisphere had ∼90% of the nominal methane abundance up to polar latitudes (80 • N). These measurements suggest that a source of saturated polar air is equilibrating with dryer conditions at lower latitudes.

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“…Each IR pixel in the VIMS images of the clouds consists of a 0.88-5.1 μm spectrum with a bandpass of 16.6 nm (Brown et al 2004). Within the wavelength region that we analyze, 1-1.6 μm, the spectrum is defined by absorption due to methane vibrational bands and scattering from haze and methane cloud particulates.…”

Section: Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of Clouds in Titan's Tropical Atmosphere

Griffith

Penteado

Rodríguez

et al. 2009

ApJ

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Images of Titan's clouds, possible over the past 10 years, indicate primarily discrete convective methane clouds near the south and north poles and an immense stratiform cloud, likely composed of ethane, around the north pole. Here we present spectral images from Cassini's Visual Mapping Infrared Spectrometer that reveal the increasing presence of clouds in Titan's tropical atmosphere. Radiative transfer analyses indicate similarities between summer polar and tropical methane clouds. Like their southern counterparts, tropical clouds consist of particles exceeding 5 μm. They display discrete structures suggestive of convective cumuli. They prevail at a specific latitude band between 8 • -20 • S, indicative of a circulation origin and the beginning of a circulation turnover. Yet, unlike the high latitude clouds that often reach 45 km altitude, these discrete tropical clouds, so far, remain capped to altitudes below 26 km. Such low convective clouds are consistent with the highly stable atmospheric conditions measured at the Huygens landing site. Their characteristics suggest that Titan's tropical atmosphere has a dry climate unlike the south polar atmosphere, and despite the numerous washes that carve the tropical landscape.

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The Cassini Visual And Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (Vims) Investigation

Cited by 381 publications

References 15 publications

CLOUD AND HAZE IN THE WINTER POLAR REGION OF TITAN OBSERVED WITH VISUAL AND INFRARED MAPPING SPECTROMETER ON BOARDCASSINI

CLOUD AND HAZE IN THE WINTER POLAR REGION OF TITAN OBSERVED WITH VISUAL AND INFRARED MAPPING SPECTROMETER ON BOARDCASSINI

Meridional variation in tropospheric methane on Titan observed with AO spectroscopy at Keck and VLT

Characterization of Clouds in Titan's Tropical Atmosphere

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