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WE PROPOSE TO ANALYZE CASSINI/VIMS OBSERVATIONS OF TRANSIENT BROAD SPECULAR REFLECTIONS COMING FROM TITAN'S NORTH POLAR LAKE DISTRICT WITH RADIATIVE TRANSFER MODELING. DHINGRA ET AL. (2018) DESCRIBE THE INITIAL DISCOVERY OF WIDE GLINTS THAT THEY ATTRIBUTE TO WETTING OF THE SURFACE WHICH RESULTS IN BRIGHT SKY REFLECTIONS WHEN VIEWED IN FRONT OF THE SUN THAT RESEMBLE THOSE OFF OF A WET SIDEWALK AFTER RAIN ON EARTH. THE ORIGINS ARE NOT CERTAIN HOWEVER. THIS PROPOSAL WOULD (1) MAP THE "WET SIDEWALK EFFECT" INSTANCES AS A FUNCTION OF SPACE AND TIME TO HELP CONSTRAIN THEIR SOURCE; AND (2) TEST HYPOTHESES FOR THEIR ORIGIN SPECIFICALLY WHETHER THEIR SPECTRA MORE CLOSELY MATCH THAT OF A WET SIDEWALK OR OF LOW ATMOSPHERIC FOG. WE WILL EMPLOY OUR NEW 3D MONTE-CARLO RADIATIVE TRANSFER MODEL SRTC++ WHICH IS WELL-SUITED TO THIS TASK OWING TO THE NON-LAMBERTIAN NATURE OF THE SURFACE SCATTERING AND THE OBSERVATION GEOMETRIES OF MOST "WET SIDEWALK" INSTANCES NEAR TITAN'S LIMB AT HIGH EMISSION ANGLE WHERE PLANE-PARALLEL APPROACHES BEGIN TO BREAK DOWN.

$337,475FY2020National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA

Regents Of The University Of Idaho, Moscow ID

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