Cassini Ultraviolet Visualization Tool for Satellites and Rings

Goals and Objectives

The Cassini mission provided us with 13+ years of observation of the satellites and rings of Saturn. To date, only a small subset of this
high-quality data has been analyzed in depth, producing unprecedented results that have improved our understanding of the giant planet’s system. The objective of the project we are presenting is to improve access to the data collected by the Cassini Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograh (UVIS) by the planetary community, including the youngest generation of upcoming scientists. This will be accomplished by developing a visualization and data exploration tool dedicated to satellite and ring observations. The tool will be first developed for Titan and will provide algorithms and visualization for the detection and characterization of airglow (dayglow and nightglow) features. The software will be further developed to include targets such as the icy satellites (e.g., Enceladus, Dione, etc.) and the rings of Saturn. When applied to icy surfaces, the tool will allow for the visualization of the UV spectral reflectance and allow for the exploration of space weathering effects acting on the overall surface or at specific locations. The tool will be able to produce publication-quality visualizations of critical parameters such as airglow brightness, airglow altitude profiles, and surface reflectance. The recent selection of PDART proposals dedicated toward improving such mission products demonstrates the need for more publicly accessible datasets and visualization software. Teams working on the upper atmosphere of Titan have already expressed interest in a dedicated visualization software package.

Approach and Methodology

The visualization tool will first be implemented for Titan, as input files from the Titan UVIS Library are already available. The Titan UVIS Library, totaling around 10,000 observations, is a compilation of EUV and FUV data at Titan, along with pre-calculated geometry and 2D detector images (time vs. spatial pixels) made at specific wavelengths. The visualization tool will incorporate these detector images and geometrical information from the Library into a Graphical User Interface (GUI), allowing the user to select specific spectral and spatial regions of interest and retrieve instantaneous calibrated spectra of their selection. An example of an investigation would be the in-depth analysis of Titan airglow phenomena. Following this example, data associated with other icy satellites (Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, but also Helene or Pan to only cite a few) and the rings, will be implemented and integrated as input products to the visualization tool. Proposed task will involve modification of algorithms from atmospheric analysis to icy surface studies.

The visualization interface will be composed of two main components: 1) a geometry window, which will display the projected position of the slit at each detector readout of the observation sequence, and 2) an image window, which will display data previews at several wavelengths, either animated or with a time-slider. A spectrum will also be displayed for a first inspection of the data. Selection of specific pixels for this spectrum preview within the images will be possible with a region-of-interest selection tool. The bottom part of the interface will contain display options and search criteria such as solar zenith angle, phase angle or orbital configuration.