Wave constraints for Titan's Jingpo Lacus and Kraken Mare from VIMS specular reflection lightcurves
Stephan et al. (Stephan, K. et al. [2010]. Geophys. Res. Lett. 37, 7104-+.) first saw the glint of sunlight specularly reflected off of Titan's lakes. We develop a quantitative model for analyzing the photometric lightcurve generated during a flyby in which the specularly reflected light flux depends on the fraction of the solar specular footprint that is covered by liquid. We allow for surface waves that spread out the geographic specular intensity distribution. Applying the model to the VIMS T58 observations shows that the waves on Jingpo Lacus must have slopes of no greater than 0.15??, two orders of magnitude flatter than waves on Earth's oceans. Combining the model with theoretical estimates of the intensity of the specular reflection allows a tighter constraint on the waves:
Citation Information
| Publication Year | 2011 |
|---|---|
| Title | Wave constraints for Titan's Jingpo Lacus and Kraken Mare from VIMS specular reflection lightcurves |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.icarus.2010.09.022 |
| Authors | J. Barnes, J.M. Soderblom, R. Brown, L.A. Soderblom, K. Stephan, R. Jaumann, Stéphane Le Mouélic, S. Rodriguez, Christophe Sotin, B. Buratti, K. Baines, R. Clark, P. Nicholson |
| Publication Type | Article |
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Series Title | Icarus |
| Index ID | 70034066 |
| Record Source | USGS Publications Warehouse |