Observational Evidence for Summer Rainfall at Titan's North Pole

Rajani D. Dhingra; Jason W. Barnes; Robert H. Brown; Bonnie J. Burrati; Christophe Sotin; Phillip D. Nicholson; Kevin H. Baines; Roger N. Clark; Jason M. Soderblom; Ralf Jauman; Sebastien Rodriguez; Stéphane Le Mouélic; Elizabeth P. Turtle; Jason E. Perry; Valeria Cottini; Don E. Jennings

doi:10.1029/2018GL080943

Observational Evidence for Summer Rainfall at Titan's North Pole

Rajani D. Dhingra, Jason W. Barnes, Robert H. Brown, Bonnie J. Burrati, Christophe Sotin, Phillip D. Nicholson, Kevin H. Baines, Roger N. Clark, Jason M. Soderblom, Ralf Jauman, Sebastien Rodriguez, Stéphane Le Mouélic, Elizabeth P. Turtle, Jason E. Perry, Valeria Cottini, Don E. Jennings

Lunar and Planetary Lab

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

17 Scopus citations

Abstract

Methane rain on Saturn's moon Titan makes it the only place, other than Earth, where rain interacts with the surface. When and where that rain wets the surface changes seasonally in ways that remain poorly understood. Here we report the discovery of a bright ephemeral feature covering an area of 120,000 km ² near Titan's north pole in observations from Cassini's near-infrared instrument, Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer on 7 June 2016. Based on the overall brightness, spectral characteristics, and geologic context, we attribute this new feature to specular reflections from a rain-wetted solid surface like those off of a sunlit wet sidewalk. The reported observation is the first documented rainfall event at Titan's north pole and heralds the arrival of the northern summer (through climatic evidence), which has been delayed relative to model predictions. This detection helps constrain Titan's seasonal change and shows that the “wet-sidewalk effect can be used to identify other rain events.”.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1205-1212
Number of pages	8
Journal	Geophysical Research Letters
Volume	46
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL080943
State	Published - Feb 16 2019

Keywords

broad specular reflection
ephemeral feature on Titan's north pole
precipitation on Titan's north pole
rainfall on Titan
surface roughness
wet-sidewalk effect

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Geophysics
General Earth and Planetary Sciences

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10.1029/2018GL080943

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Dhingra, R. D., Barnes, J. W., Brown, R. H., Burrati, B. J., Sotin, C., Nicholson, P. D., Baines, K. H., Clark, R. N., Soderblom, J. M., Jauman, R., Rodriguez, S., Mouélic, S. L., Turtle, E. P., Perry, J. E., Cottini, V., & Jennings, D. E. (2019). Observational Evidence for Summer Rainfall at Titan's North Pole. Geophysical Research Letters, 46(3), 1205-1212. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL080943

Dhingra, RD, Barnes, JW, Brown, RH, Burrati, BJ, Sotin, C, Nicholson, PD, Baines, KH, Clark, RN, Soderblom, JM, Jauman, R, Rodriguez, S, Mouélic, SL, Turtle, EP, Perry, JE, Cottini, V & Jennings, DE 2019, 'Observational Evidence for Summer Rainfall at Titan's North Pole', Geophysical Research Letters, vol. 46, no. 3, pp. 1205-1212. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL080943

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abstract = " Methane rain on Saturn's moon Titan makes it the only place, other than Earth, where rain interacts with the surface. When and where that rain wets the surface changes seasonally in ways that remain poorly understood. Here we report the discovery of a bright ephemeral feature covering an area of 120,000 km 2 near Titan's north pole in observations from Cassini's near-infrared instrument, Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer on 7 June 2016. Based on the overall brightness, spectral characteristics, and geologic context, we attribute this new feature to specular reflections from a rain-wetted solid surface like those off of a sunlit wet sidewalk. The reported observation is the first documented rainfall event at Titan's north pole and heralds the arrival of the northern summer (through climatic evidence), which has been delayed relative to model predictions. This detection helps constrain Titan's seasonal change and shows that the “wet-sidewalk effect can be used to identify other rain events.”.",

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AU - Sotin, Christophe

AU - Nicholson, Phillip D.

AU - Baines, Kevin H.

AU - Clark, Roger N.

AU - Soderblom, Jason M.

AU - Jauman, Ralf

AU - Rodriguez, Sebastien

AU - Mouélic, Stéphane Le

AU - Turtle, Elizabeth P.

AU - Perry, Jason E.

AU - Cottini, Valeria

AU - Jennings, Don E.

PY - 2019/2/16

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N2 - Methane rain on Saturn's moon Titan makes it the only place, other than Earth, where rain interacts with the surface. When and where that rain wets the surface changes seasonally in ways that remain poorly understood. Here we report the discovery of a bright ephemeral feature covering an area of 120,000 km 2 near Titan's north pole in observations from Cassini's near-infrared instrument, Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer on 7 June 2016. Based on the overall brightness, spectral characteristics, and geologic context, we attribute this new feature to specular reflections from a rain-wetted solid surface like those off of a sunlit wet sidewalk. The reported observation is the first documented rainfall event at Titan's north pole and heralds the arrival of the northern summer (through climatic evidence), which has been delayed relative to model predictions. This detection helps constrain Titan's seasonal change and shows that the “wet-sidewalk effect can be used to identify other rain events.”.

AB - Methane rain on Saturn's moon Titan makes it the only place, other than Earth, where rain interacts with the surface. When and where that rain wets the surface changes seasonally in ways that remain poorly understood. Here we report the discovery of a bright ephemeral feature covering an area of 120,000 km 2 near Titan's north pole in observations from Cassini's near-infrared instrument, Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer on 7 June 2016. Based on the overall brightness, spectral characteristics, and geologic context, we attribute this new feature to specular reflections from a rain-wetted solid surface like those off of a sunlit wet sidewalk. The reported observation is the first documented rainfall event at Titan's north pole and heralds the arrival of the northern summer (through climatic evidence), which has been delayed relative to model predictions. This detection helps constrain Titan's seasonal change and shows that the “wet-sidewalk effect can be used to identify other rain events.”.

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KW - rainfall on Titan

KW - surface roughness

KW - wet-sidewalk effect

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Observational Evidence for Summer Rainfall at Titan's North Pole

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Keywords

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