HR: 0800h
AN: P21B-0541    [Abstracts]
TI: Enceladus Surface Classification Using Cassini Visual infrared Mapping Spectrometer Data
AU: Lane, S T
EM: stlane@scatcat.fhsu.edu
AF: Fort Hays State University, 600 Park Street, Hays, KS 67601, United States
AU: * Heinrichs, J
EM: jheinric@fhsu.edu
AF: Fort Hays State University, 600 Park Street, Hays, KS 67601, United States
AB: Surface fractures (called "tiger stripes") near the south pole of Enceladus have been found to be spatially correlated with the highest temperatures measured in the region (Porco et al 2006). These features are also believed to be the source of an ice plume observed from the Cassini orbiter. As proposed by Nimmo (2007), shear heating from tidally driven lateral fault motion suggests an explanation for both the formation of the surface fractures and the associated plumes. One possible approach to determining the rate of deformation is to compare changes in the areas of the fractures over a period of time. This study employed a maximum likelihood multispectral classification method for identifying terrain types in the southern region of Enceladus using data from Cassini's Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer. It was found that the mid infrared bands between 24.9 to 26.5 microns produce greater contrast between differentiating terrain than bands in the visual spectrum. The maximum likelihood classifier allowed a reasonable level of classification accuracy and an estimate of the open fracture area to be obtained.
DE: 5464 Remote sensing
SC: Planetary Sciences [P]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting