#
# Program information file
#
PROGRAM_ID 2023B068
PROGRAM_TITLE Investigating Titan's seasonal meteorology through cloud monitoring with IRTF SpeX
PROGRAM_INV1 Paul Corlies
PROGRAM_INV2 Alexander Hayes
PROGRAM_INV3 Jason Soderblom
PROGRAM_INV4 Mate Adamkovics
PROGRAM_INV5 Elizabeth Turtle
PROGRAM_SCICAT major planets / satellites
PROGRAM_ABSTRACT_BEG
With the completion of the Cassini mission in September 2017, ground based observations are now the only means with which to study Titan's hydrologic cycle. Cassini taught us much about Titan's hydrology, but there is still much to learn: How frequent will clouds be during northern summer, how will the lakes at Titan's north pole affect cloud formation, will large scale storms be as frequent during northern summer as they were during southern summer? Recently, eagerly-anticipated clouds have begun to be observed for the first time from ground based observations to begin answering such questions. We therefore propose to continue an ongoing campaign to: observe the evolution of Titan's cloud systems and the dynamics that drive them, provide the statistics required to investigate meteorological seasonal variation necessary for understanding Titan's hydrologic cycle, and to discriminate between and further constrain general circulation models [GCMs].
PROGRAM_ABSTRACT_END