  Images from instruments on Cassini as well as from telescopes on the ground
reveal the presence of sporadic small-scale cloud activity in the cold
late-winter north polar of Saturn's large moon Titan. These clouds lie
underneath the previously discovered uniform polar cloud attributed to a
quiescent ethane cloud at ~40 km and appear confined to the same latitudes as
those of the largest known hydrocarbon lakes at the north pole of Titan. The
physical properties of these clouds suggest that they are due to methane
convection and condensation. Such convection has not been predicted for the
cold winter pole, but can be caused by a process in many ways analogous to
terrestrial lake-effect clouds. The lakes on Titan are a key connection between
the surface and the meteorological cycle.
