The T126 Cassini's final flyby of Titan has offered a unique opportunity to observe an area in the Northern Polar terrain, where several small - medium size (10 - 50 km) hydrocarbons lakes are present and have been previously imaged by Cassini. The successful observation allowed the radar to operate at the closest approach over several small lakes, using its altimetry mode for the investigation of depth and liquid composition. Herein we present the result of a dedicate processing previously applied to altimetric data acquired over Ligeia Mare where the radar revealed the bathymetry and composition of the sea [1,2]. We show that, the optimal geometry condition met during the T126 fly-by allowed the radar to probe Titan's lakes revealing that such small liquid bodies can exceed one-hundred meters of depth.
Probing Small Lakes on Titan Using the Cassini RADAR Altimeter
D Casarano;
2017
Abstract
The T126 Cassini's final flyby of Titan has offered a unique opportunity to observe an area in the Northern Polar terrain, where several small - medium size (10 - 50 km) hydrocarbons lakes are present and have been previously imaged by Cassini. The successful observation allowed the radar to operate at the closest approach over several small lakes, using its altimetry mode for the investigation of depth and liquid composition. Herein we present the result of a dedicate processing previously applied to altimetric data acquired over Ligeia Mare where the radar revealed the bathymetry and composition of the sea [1,2]. We show that, the optimal geometry condition met during the T126 fly-by allowed the radar to probe Titan's lakes revealing that such small liquid bodies can exceed one-hundred meters of depth.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
