Modeling microwave backscatter and thermal emission from linear dune fields: Application to Titan

• Modeling the microwave backscatter and thermal emission from linear dune fields.
• Comparison to Cassini Radar and radiometric observations of Titan’s dunes.
• Better understanding of dune regional variations.
• Potential presence of superimposed dune patterns on the dune fields.

We present an electromagnetic model that relates the microwave backscatter and thermal emission from linear dune fields to their compositional, physical (roughness, subsurface porosity/heterogeneity) and geometrical (slope, orientation) properties. This model shows the value of exploring these highly directional and geometrical features in light of both their backscattering cross-section and emissivity. Compared to Cassini concurrent radar and radiometry data acquired from October 2004 to June 2011 over Titan’s dune fields, it provides clues to understand variations among dune regions on the largest Saturn’s moon. In particular, it brings a formal support to the idea first advanced in Le Gall et al. (Le Gall, A., Janssen, M.A., Wye, L.C., Hayes, A.G., Radebaugh, J., Savage, C., Zebker, H., Lorenz, R.D., Lunine, J.I., Kirk, R.L., Lopes, R.M.C., Wall, S., Callahan, P., Stofan, E.R., Farr, T. and the Cassini Radar Team [2011]. Icarus 213, 608–624) that the size of the interdune valleys (relative to that of the dunes) varies across Titan as well as the diffuse scattering properties of these interdune areas due to different thickness of sand cover (i.e. bedrock contribution) or degree of compaction/heterogeneity of the sand cover. The Fensal and Belet dune fields, in particular, are quite different in terms of these properties. The comparison between the model and Cassini data also reveals the potential presence of structures, possibly small-superposed dunes, oriented perpendicular to the dune crests in the Aztlan region.