Fractal analysis and filtering of a titan height profile measured by the Cassini altimeter

Fractal behaviour of one Titan height profile acquired by the Cassini altimeter during its first flyby is demonstrated and quantitatively analysed. Inadequacy of popular non fractal models is also demonstrated. In summary, the obtained results show that a proper model of the Titan height profile is the fractional Brownian motion (fBm) with a fractal dimension of 1.4, and that the employed statistical model allows the design of ad-hoc filters to improve the measurement accuracy. KeywordsFractals, deep space exploration, altimeter, Cassini mission.