Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Site Tools

  • AAAS
  • Subscribe
  • Feedback

Site Search

Search Advanced

Science 21 October 2005:
Vol. 310. no. 5747, pp. 474 - 477
DOI: 10.1126/science.1117702
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

The Evolution of Titan's Mid-Latitude Clouds

C. A. Griffith,1 P. Penteado,1 K. Baines,2 P. Drossart,3 J. Barnes,1 G. Bellucci,4 J. Bibring,5 R. Brown,1 B. Buratti,2 F. Capaccioni,6 P. Cerroni,6 R. Clark,7 M. Combes,3 A. Coradini,6 D. Cruikshank,8 V. Formisano,4 R. Jaumann,9 Y. Langevin,5 D. Matson,2 T. McCord,10 V. Mennella,11 R. Nelson,2 P. Nicholson,12 B. Sicardy,3 C. Sotin,13 L. A. Soderblom,14 R. Kursinski1

Spectra from Cassini's Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer reveal that the horizontal structure, height, and optical depth of Titan's clouds are highly dynamic. Vigorous cloud centers are seen to rise from the middle to the upper troposphere within 30 minutes and dissipate within the next hour. Their development indicates that Titan's clouds evolve convectively; dissipate through rain; and, over the next several hours, waft downwind to achieve their great longitude extents. These and other characteristics suggest that temperate clouds originate from circulation-induced convergence, in addition to a forcing at the surface associated with Saturn's tides, geology, and/or surface composition.

1 Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
2 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA.
3 Observatoire de Paris, 5 Place Jules Jannsen, Meudon, France.
4 Instituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario, Consiglio Nationale delle Richerche (CNR), Rome, Italy.
5 Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale, Université de Paris-Sud, Orsay, France.
6 Instituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica, CNR, Rome, Italy.
7 U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO 80225, USA.
8 NASA Ames Research Center, Moffet Field, Mountain View, CA, USA.
9 Institute of Planetary Exploration, German Aerospace Center, Germany.
10 Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
11 Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, Via Moiariello 16, 80131, Napoli, Italy.
12 Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
13 Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique, Université de Nantes, France.
14 U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA.

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
The dynamics of Titan's troposphere.
T. Tokano (2009)
Phil Trans R Soc A 367, 633-648
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The coupling of winds, aerosols and chemistry in Titan's atmosphere.
S. Lebonnois, P. Rannou, and F. Hourdin (2009)
Phil Trans R Soc A 367, 665-682
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Storms, polar deposits and the methane cycle in Titan's atmosphere.
C. A. Griffith (2009)
Phil Trans R Soc A 367, 713-728
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Widespread Morning Drizzle on Titan.
M. Adamkovics, M. H. Wong, C. Laver, and I. de Pater (2007)
Science 318, 962-965
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The dynamics behind Titan's methane clouds.
J. L. Mitchell, R. T. Pierrehumbert, D. M. W. Frierson, and R. Caballero (2006)
PNAS 103, 18421-18426
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Evidence for a polar ethane cloud on Titan..
C. A. Griffith, P. Penteado, P. Rannou, R. Brown, V. Boudon, K. H. Baines, R. Clark, P. Drossart, B. Buratti, P. Nicholson, et al. (2006)
Science 313, 1620-1622
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The Latitudinal Distribution of Clouds on Titan.
P. Rannou, F. Montmessin, F. Hourdin, and S. Lebonnois (2006)
Science 311, 201-205
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)