[X] My Assistant

[ngunn]

Compare the predicted view in the latest 'looking ahead'

http://ciclops.org/view/5825/Rev_118

with the nothern hemisphere polar map:

Attached thumbnail(s)

 

[remcook]

Titanicrivers- I don't think these are the ethane cloud. I don't think you can see that one with these filters. These will be thicker, lower methane clouds, like Brown's lake-effect clouds.

[titanicrivers]

Titanicrivers- I don't think these are the ethane cloud. I don't think you can see that one with these filters. These will be thicker, lower methane clouds, like Brown's lake-effect clouds.

Agreed. But my understanding (perhaps incorrect) was that they were still influenced by the global circulation and tropospheric flow rather than arising from ground based structures.
The second Brown et al paper on lake-effect clouds (?published) does provide some convincing evidence for an evaporative effect from the North polar lakes and seas with its polar map of these lower streaking clouds abundance on systematic evaluation of Titan images from several sources including VIMS, ISS and ground based observatories. (in the paper EAST rather than WEST longitudes are referenced on their plots differing from the ISS Cassini plots; that the reason for rotating the Brown polar plot 180 deg; clouds located in ISS are green and by VIMS are in red in the figure)
Brown predicts these lower altitude clouds will become increasingly abundant as the northern hemisphere of Titan gets increasing solar insolation over the next decade.