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Science 21 October 2005:
Vol. 310. no. 5747, pp. 474 - 477
DOI: 10.1126/science.1117702
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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.

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