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WE PROPOSE TO ANALYZE THE TEMPORAL EVOLUTION OF THE AFTERMATH OF SATURN S 2010-2011 GREAT STORM USING IMAGES CAPTURED BY THE IMAGING SCIENCE SUBSYSTEM (ISS) AND VISUAL AND INFRARED MAPPING SPECTROMETER (VIMS) CAMERAS ONBOARD THE CASSINI ORBITER. THE INTENSE CUMULUS CONVECTION IN THE STORM LIFTED AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF MASS FROM THE WATER CONDENSATION LEVEL ESTIMATED TO BE AT A DEPTH OF 20 BAR TO THE UPPER TROPOSPHERIC ALTITUDES ABOVE 1 BAR. CASSINI S REMOTE-SENSING INSTRUMENTS DETECTED NUMEROUS CHANGES TRIGGERED BY THE STORM IN THE CLOUD MORPHOLOGY AND THERMAL STRUCTURE. IN PARTICULAR WE WILL ANALYZE THE VAST CLOUDLESS LATITUDE BAND LEFT BEHIND THE STORM. THE FORMATION OF THIS CLOUDLESS BAND IS SURPRISING BECAUSE A CUMULUS STORM TRANSPORTS SATURATED AIR UPWARD AND FORMS CLOUDS WHILE SUCH A CLEARING IS NORMALLY ASSOCIATED WITH SUBSIDENCE RATHER THAN UPWELLING. THROUGH OUR ANALYSIS OF THE RICH CASSINI DATASETS WE WILL PRODUCE A DETAILED RECORD OF WHEN AND WHERE THE STORM S CUMULUS CONVECTION RELEASED THE LIFTED MASS AND EXAMINE THE EXPANSION OF THE POST-STORM CLEARING UNTIL THE ENTIRE LATITUDINAL ZONE BECOMES CLOUDLESS. FURTHERMORE WE WILL EXTEND THE THEORETICAL FORMULATION FOR CYCLICAL GIANT STORMS HYPOTHESIZED BY LI AND INGERSOLL (2015) TO INCLUDE THE GRADUAL CLOUD CLEARING LIKE THAT OBSERVED BY SROMOVSKY ET AL. (2016). THE MOST RECENT STORM STARTED ON DECEMBER 5TH 2010 AND THE ACTIVE CUMULUS PHASE OF THE STORM ENDED IN AUGUST 2011. THE DYNAMICS OF THE STORM WAS DOCUMENTED IN NUMEROUS PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLES INCLUDING SAYANAGI ET AL. (2013 2014) AND SANCHEZ-LAVEGA ET AL. (2018). HOWEVER THE DISTURBANCE CAUSED BY THE STORM CONTINUED TO EVOLVE LONG AFTER THE ACTIVE CONVECTIVE PHASE UNTIL THE END OF CASSINI MISSION. THE TEMPORAL CHANGES COULD BE SEEN IN A WIDE RANGE OF WAVELENGTHS BETWEEN 5-MICRON CHANNEL OF VIMS AND THE 420 NM ISS FILTER. EVEN THOUGH THE TEMPORAL EVOLUTION OF THE STORM S AFTERMATH EVOLVED THROUGHOUT THE CASSINI S SECOND EXTENDED MISSION (THE SOLSTICE MISSION ) ITS TEMPORAL EVOLUTION HAS NOT BEEN EXAMINED IN DETAIL. WE PROPOSE TO EXAMINE THE RICH DATASET RETURNED BY CASSINI ISS AND VIMS INSTRUMENTS TO CONDUCT A DETAILED INVESTIGATION OF THE TEMPORAL EVOLUTION OF THE STORM S DYNAMIC AFTERMATH. IN PARTICULAR WE WILL CHARACTERIZE EMERGENCE AND GROWTH OF THE CLOUD-FREE REGION THAT APPEARED AT THE END OF THE ACTIVE CUMULUS PHASE OF THE STORM. THROUGH THESE ANALYSES WE WILL EXAMINE THE STORM S IMPACT ON THE ATMOSPHERIC VERTICAL THERMAL STRUCTURE WHICH IN TURN WILL HELP UNDERSTAND THE MECHANISM THAT DRIVES THE STORM AS WELL AS THE STORM S ROLE IN THE ENERGY BALANCE OF THE PLANET.

$388,942FY2020National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA

Hampton University, Hampton VA

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