HR: 0830h
AN: P21C-01    [Abstracts]
TI: The Surface Properties of Titan as Revealed by Cassini VIMS
AU: * Buratti, B J
EM: bonnie.buratti@jpl.nasa.gov
AF: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Dr., Pasadena, CA 91109 United States
AU: Sotin, C
EM: sotin@chimie.univ-nantes.fr
AF: Universite de Nantes, UMR CNRS 6112, Nantes, France
AU: McCord, T B
EM: mccordtb@aol.com
AF: Hawaii Inst. of Geophysics and Planetary Science, Planetary Sciences Division, Honolulu, HI 96822 United States
AU: Brown, R H
EM: rhb@lpl.arizona.edu
AF: University of Arizona, Lunar and Planetary Lab, Tucson, AZ 85721 United States
AU: Clark, R
EM: rclark@usgs.gov
AF: USGS, Mail Stop 964 Box 25046 Federal Center, Denver, CO 80225 United States
AU: Cruikshank, D P
EM: dcruikshank@mail.arc.nasa.gov
AF: NASA/Ames Research Center, Mail stop 245-6, Moffett Field, CA 94035 United States
AU: Jaumann, R
EM: ralf.jaumann@dlr.de
AF: Institute for Planetary Exploration, DLR, Berlin, Germany
AU: Baines, K
EM: blueskies4321@yahoo.com
AF: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Dr., Pasadena, CA 91109 United States
AU: Bellucci, G
EM: giancarlo.bellucci@ifsi.rm.cnr.it
AF: Inst. di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario, CNR, Rome, Italy
AU: Bibring, J
EM: bibring@ias.fr
AF: Universite de Paris-Sud, IAS, Paris, France
AU: Capaccioni, F
EM: capaccio@rm.iasf.cnr.it
AF: Inst. di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario, CNR, Rome, Italy
AU: Cerroni, P
EM: priscio@rm.iasf.cnr.it
AF: Inst. di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario, CNR, Rome, Italy
AU: Combes, M
EM: michel.combes@obspm.fr
AF: Observatoire de Paris, 61 Av. de l'Observatoire, Paris, F-75014 France
AU: Coradini, A
EM: coradini@rm.iasf.cnr.it
AF: Inst. di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario, CNR, Rome, Italy
AU: Drossart, P
EM: Pierre.Drossart@obspm.fr
AF: Observatoire de Paris, 5 Place Jules Janssen, Meudon, F-92195 France
AU: Formisano, V
EM: formisano@nike.ifsi.rm.cnr.it
AF: Inst. di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario, CNR, Rome, Italy
AU: Langevin, Y
EM: langevin@ias.fr
AF: Universite de Paris-Sud, IAS, Paris, France
AU: Matson, D
EM: Dennis.Matson@jpl.nasa.gov
AF: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Dr., Pasadena, CA 91109 United States
AU: Mennella, V
EM: mennella@na.astro.it
AF: Inst. di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario, CNR, Rome, Italy
AU: Nelson, R
EM: robert.m.nelson@jpl.nasa.gov
AF: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Dr., Pasadena, CA 91109 United States
AU: Nicholson, P
EM: nicholson@astro.cornell.edu
AF: Cornell University, Space Sciences Bldg., Ithaca, NY 14853 United States
AU: Sicardy, B
EM: bruno.sicardy@obspm.fr
AF: Observatoire de Paris, 5 Place Jules Janssen, Meudon, F-92195 France
AB: The Cassini Visual Infrared Mapping Spectrometer is an instrument that returns data between 0.34 and 5.1 microns. Spatial resolution can be as high as 0.25 mradians in the 1-5 micron range and 0.17 mradians in the visible. By the end of May 2005 the Cassini spacecraft will have accomplished 5 close, targeted flybys of Titan, ranging in distances (at closest approach) from 1025 to 4009 km. The VIMS instrument is uniquely suited to studying the surface of Titan because its thick, opaque nitrogen-methane atmosphere exhibits clarity at selected "windows" that are well-distributed throughout the near infrared. The spectral reflectance at these windows has been studied to derive the surface properties of the satellite. A simple empirical model has employed to remove the haze, which adds substantial opacity even in the windows. The surface scattering properties have been fit to a macroscopic roughness model, and to a Henyey-Greenstein equation to derive the single particle phase function. Many areas of Titan have scattering properties - and presumably surface properties - similar to the other icy satellites of Saturn. The over-all shape of Titan's spectrum through the atmospheric windows is consistent with a mixture of water-ice and organics (tholins), although this simple picture cannpt explain some details. Work funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
DE: 5764 Surfaces
DE: 6020 Ice
DE: 6062 Satellites
DE: 6280 Saturnian satellites
SC: Planetary Sciences [P]
MN: 2005 Joint Assembly