Radar altimetery of Titan by the descending Huygens Probe

V. Svedhem (1) , R. Trautner (1) , P. Falkner (1) , Olivier Witasse (1) , J.-P. Lebreton (1) , N. Floury (1) , P. Baptista (1) , Wlodek Kofman (2) , Alain Hérique (2) , R. Lorenz (3) , Dirk Plettemeier (4) , M. Fulchignoni (5) , F. Ferri (6)

1 ESTEC - European Space Research and Technology Centre
2 LPG - Laboratoire de Planétologie de Grenoble
3 University of Arizona
4 Fakultaet fuer Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik
5 OBSPM - Observatoire de Paris - Site de Meudon
6 CISAS - Centro di Ateneo di Studi e Attività Spaziali “Giuseppe Colombo”

The Huygens probe carried a Radar altimeter as a part of its engineering system to determine the distance to the surface of Titan during the descent. Scientific data from this instrument was received and processed by the HASI instrument. During the descent the first surface signal was received at an altitude of 45km. This signal has been analysed to determine the topography and the scattering properties of the surface of Titan along the ground track traversed during the descent. The first results of this analysis will be presented and the limitations and the accuracy of the measurements will be discussed together with the geophysical implications.

V. Svedhem, R. Trautner, P. Falkner, Olivier Witasse, J.-P. Lebreton, et al.. Radar altimetery of Titan by the descending Huygens Probe. EGU General Assembly 2005, Apr 2005, Vienne, Austria. ⟨insu-00364545⟩