The thermal emission of Saturn’s icy moons

C Ferrari,A Lucas,S Jacquemoud

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202141223

Abstract

Context.The effects of space weathering and other alteration processes on the upper surface of Saturn’s icy moons are yet to be explored.Aims.We present a thermophysical model parametrised by way of regolith properties such as porosity, grain size, and composition, as well as the local topography. The modelled surface temperature and apparent emissivity are intended to be compared to measurements taken by Cassini’s Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS), using its focal plane FP1. We study how they are impacted by the topographic model and the regolith properties.Methods.As an example, we coupled the topography of the Dione moon with our model. Simulations provide the thermal history of the surface elements of the shape model included in the FP1 footprints at the viewing geometries along one CIRS observation. The heat transfer in the regolith may occur through conduction or radiation. Its bolometric albedo,A, and hemispherical emissivity,εh, are expressed as a function of grain properties.Results.The model roughly reproduces the observed variations of surface temperature,TF, and apparent emissivity,εF, in the chosen example, while assuming uniform regolith properties. The dispersion of temperatures within the footprints due to the difference in local time of the surface elements explains most of the directionality of the apparent emissivity,εF(Em), at emission angles of Em ≥ 30°. Adding topography at the 8-km scale amplifies this effect by a few percent. Refining the scale to 1 km increases it again by a single percent but at a high computational cost. This particular anisotropy ofεF(Em) cannot be explained by the directional emissivity,εd, of the regolith. The temperatureTFis less affected by this dispersion or by the topographic resolution. Adding regional variations of grain size significantly improves the agreement between the model and observations.Conclusions.This model demonstrated its good performance and, thus, it is ready for testing current hypotheses on regolith processing by space weathering on Saturn’s icy moons, such as regional changes in grain size.

Highlights

Beyond large-scale meteorite impacts or geological activity, there are many processes at work that effectively alter the surfaces of Saturn’s atmosphere-less icy moons
For the global topography model (GTM) (q = 64), the ground sample distances (GSD) is about 8 km, which fits the latitudinal sampling of the n-ell ellipsoidal shape model with n = 222
In this paper, we present a thermophysical model with the aim of analysing the temperatures and the apparent emissivities of

Summary

Introduction

Beyond large-scale meteorite impacts or geological activity, there are many processes at work that effectively alter the surfaces of Saturn’s atmosphere-less icy moons. If the observed lens-shaped patterns can be explained by an alteration of the surface by MeV electrons, the mechanism of grain sintering and the reason for thermal inertia increases in the icy regolith remain poorly understood (Ferrari & Lucas 2016; Schaible et al 2017). To explore this direction further, we propose a thermophysical model that relates thermal inertia to regolith properties, namely: grain size and composition, layer structure, porosity, and the quality of grain contacts. We take advantage of an observation of Dione to study the impact of the complexity of the shape model on the measured TF and εF

Topography of icy moons

Results

Conclusion