Titan Data Atlas

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Titan Channel Map

A global shapefile of the river channels mapped on Titan, with certainty, stream order, width and length for each segment.

In plain words

Titan has river channels. This shapefile traces the channels visible in Cassini radar images across the whole moon. Every segment records how certain the mapping is, its stream order, its apparent width and its length. It is small, so it is a good first download for a class project.

Good for: map rivers and channels; make a map of a region for a class project.

The details

What is inside

One shapefile, global_channels, with 4,537 line features. The folder holds the standard parts (.shp 1.2 MB, .shx, .dbf 310 KB, .prj, .cpg), ArcGIS spatial index files (.sbn, .sbx), ArcGIS metadata (.shp.xml) and a short read_me.docx. The download zip is 1.0 MB. The same shapefile also ships inside the Titan Polar Mapping package.

Attribute fields

Certainty: 0 is low, 1 is medium and 2 is high certainty. Stream_Ord: Strahler stream order. Width: apparent bankfull width in meters. Shape_Len: length of the channel segment in meters. These definitions come from the dataset's read_me.docx.

How it was made

The read me says the channels were mapped on the Cassini SAR mosaic from the Hayes Research Group data products, together with individual radar swaths from the Planetary Data System. Miller et al. (2021) describe the mapping and what Titan and Earth river planforms look like in low-resolution radar.

Resolution and coverage

The map covers all of Titan where radar images allowed channel mapping. The .prj defines an equirectangular (plate carree) projection on a Titan sphere of radius 2,575 km, central meridian 180 degrees, with units in meters. The paper's title points to the main limit: the channels were traced on low-resolution radar images.

How to cite

Cite Miller et al. (2021), The Planetary Science Journal 2, 142, https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/ac0245. No dataset DOI or license is stated on the data-products page, the raw folder or the read me, so ask the authors before you republish the files.

Open it in your GIS

ArcGIS Pro

Opens directly Opens as it is downloaded.

  1. Download titan_channels_miller.zip (1.1 MB) from the Hayes Research Group data products page.
  2. Extract the zip into one folder.
  3. Open ArcGIS Pro and create a new project with a map.
  4. On the Map tab, in the Layer group, click Add Data, then click Browse.
  5. Select global_channels.shp and click OK.
  6. Right-click the layer and click Symbology.
  7. Select Unique Values and choose the Certainty field.
  8. Right-click the layer and click Attribute Table to see Stream_Ord, Width and Shape_Len.
  9. Add a Titan SAR or topography layer underneath for context.
  • Titan is a sphere of radius 2,575 km. The .prj defines Equirectangular_TITAN with central meridian 180 degrees. Keep it; do not reproject to WGS 1984.
  • If you mix layers, set the map coordinate system with Map Properties, on the Coordinate Systems tab. Titan 2000 is Esri WKID 104943.
  • Certainty values: 0 is low, 1 is medium, 2 is high.
  • No license is stated for this shapefile. Cite Miller et al. (2021) and ask the authors before you republish it.

QGIS

Opens directly Opens as it is downloaded.

  1. Download titan_channels_miller.zip and extract it into one folder.
  2. Select Layer > Add Layer > Add Vector Layer.
  3. Select global_channels.shp and click Add.
  4. Open Layer Properties, click the Source tab and check the CRS is Equirectangular_TITAN.
  5. Click Symbology, select Categorized and choose the Certainty field.
  6. Click Classify, then click OK.
  7. Open the attribute table to see Stream_Ord, Width and Shape_Len.
  8. Add a Titan raster underneath for context, such as topo_4PPD.cub.
  • Titan is a sphere of radius 2,575 km. Do not assign EPSG:4326 (WGS 84). QGIS reads the Titan CRS from the .prj file.
  • The .prj uses central meridian 180 degrees, while the topography cubes use 0 degrees. QGIS reprojects on the fly when both use a Titan sphere.
  • If a layer has no CRS, select Layer > Set CRS of Layer(s), or make one with Settings > Custom CRS (Custom Projections in older versions).
  • A GeoJSON copy is on this site's Titan channels sample page.

JMARS

Not confirmed Nobody has confirmed this tool opens it yet.

  1. Select Titan in the JMARS body list, if your version offers it.
  2. Download titan_channels_miller.zip and extract it into one folder.
  3. Open global_channels.shp in QGIS.
  4. Run Reproject Layer from the QGIS Processing Toolbox with a Titan longitude and latitude CRS.
  5. Save the result as a new shapefile.
  6. Add a Shape Layer in JMARS.
  7. In the Shape Layer panel, click File, then click Load File.
  8. Change the file type to Shapefile, select the new .shp file and click Load.
  • JMARS support for Titan is not confirmed. The JMARS FAQ lists a Titan radius of 2,576 km, but no JMARS page we found confirms Titan as a selectable body.
  • The JMARS Shape Layer does not support map-projected coordinates. The original file is projected in meters, so reproject it to longitude and latitude first.
  • JMARS uses 2,576 km for Titan; the shapefile uses 2,575 km. Expect small position differences.
  • We did not test this shapefile in JMARS.

Titan products here are referenced to a sphere of radius 2,575 km. If your GIS asks for a coordinate system, pick a Titan sphere, never an Earth one, and check the product's own label or .prj file first.

Converted sample

No converted sample for this product yet. Use the download or the full dataset links instead.