Program: GN-2006A-SV-128

NIFS SV Titan Project: Group 1 (PI Trafton) Abstract We propose to spectrally map Titan's disk in the K band in order to record several phenomena related to low altitude weather during the NIFS SV run. Utilizing spatial variations in albedo at the broad 2.12um collision-induced S(1) absorption line of H2, the narrow absorption lines of the H2-N2 dimer, and color maps at and around the both the S(1) line and absorption lines of CH4, we will measure the state of recently-reported mid-latitude cloud activity (time scale of changes is hours), the state of the south polar cloud, seasonal effects across the hemispheres, and possibly the dispersion in cloud parameters over the disk. Of special interest is the locus of relatively clear spots, for which the presence and strength of the dimer absorptions and the collision-induced S(1) absorption line are each a probe, because they might signify a global weather pattern (e.g. the clearing that follows and parallels frontal precipitation). Group 1 (PI Roe) Abstract We propose approximately 2 hours of Titan observations split into short sequences (30-40 minutes or less) on each possible NIFS SV night. For several semesters we have had a successful NIRI-Altair monitoring project of Titan's methane clouds using narrowband filters to map the clouds spatially, but not determine their altitudes. With these observations we are seeing the seasonal evolution of Titan's south polar methane storms, discovered Titan's mid-latitude clouds, and linked these mid-latitude clouds to a geographic formation mechanism, possibly cryovolcanoes. With NIFS-Altair we can now measure the altitudes of the clouds we observe, a key step towards understanding Titan's methane weather. Group 3 (PI Bailey) Abstract We will use NIFS to obtain spatially resolved near-infrared spectra of Titan in the J, H and K bands. The spectra at these wavelengths are dominated by methane absorption bands, and different wavelengths probe different levels in the atmosphere from the surface to the stratospheric photochemical haze. The observations can be used to study the structure and distribution of the the transient methane clouds.