Search Publications
Mars surface thermal inertia and heterogeneities from OMEGA/MEX
Bibring, J. -P.; Gondet, B.; Langevin, Y. +4 more
The thermophysical structure of the martian surface is the result of various processes that have shaped the martian surface through time. Previous dedicated heliosynchronous measurements of the thermal infrared (IR) flux of the martian surface have revealed the diversity of martian surface thermal properties, as well as its complexity linked to th…
Dielectric measurements and radar attenuation estimation of ice/basalt sand mixtures as martian Polar Caps analogues
Lauro, S. E.; Pettinelli, E.; Mattei, E. +3 more
The nature of the materials underlying the superficial deposits of Mars can be inferred, applying an inversion algorithm, from the data acquired by the orbiting HF radars MARSIS and SHARAD. This approach requires the knowledge of the electromagnetic properties of the shallow deposits and an accurate evaluation of the signal attenuation. The presen…
Titan dune heights retrieval by using Cassini Radar Altimeter
Seu, R.; Poggiali, V.; Mastrogiuseppe, M. +2 more
The Cassini Radar is a Ku band multimode instrument capable of providing topographic and mapping information. During several of the 93 Titan fly-bys performed by Cassini, the radar collected a large amount of data observing many dune fields in multiple modes such as SAR, Altimeter, Scatterometer and Radiometer. Understanding dune characteristics, …
The effect of solar flares, coronal mass ejections, and solar wind streams on Venus’ 5577 Å oxygen green line
Molaverdikhani, K.; Chanover, N. J.; Slanger, T. G. +1 more
We observed the Venusian 5577.3 Å OI (1S-1D) (oxygen green line) nightglow emission feature after solar flares, coronal mass ejections (CMEs), and solar wind streams from December 2010 to July 2012 using the high resolution Astrophysical Research Consortium Echelle Spectrograph on the Apache Point Observatory 3.5 m telescope.…
Subsidence-induced methane clouds in Titan's winter polar stratosphere and upper troposphere
Barnes, J. W.; Flasar, F. M.; Achterberg, R. K. +2 more
Titan's atmospheric methane most likely originates from lakes at the surface and subsurface reservoirs. Accordingly, it has been commonly assumed that Titan's tropopause region, where the vertical temperature profile is a minimum, acts as a cold trap for convecting methane, leading to the expectation that the formation of methane clouds in Titan's…
Linelist of HD16O for study of atmosphere of terrestrial planets (Earth, Venus and Mars)
Fedorova, A. A.; Lavrentieva, N. N.; Voronin, B. A. +2 more
Studies of water vapor in the atmospheres of Venus, Mars and Earth by spectroscopic techniques are being made routinely with different instruments on board of interplanetary missions like Mars-Express, Venus-Express and many others as well as with a lot of spacecrafts on the Earth’ orbit. Accessibility of detailed spectroscopic information in a wi…
Thermophysical property variations across Dione and Rhea
Spencer, J. R.; Howett, C. J. A.; Segura, M. +2 more
Maps of the variation in bolometric Bond albedo and thermal inertia across Rhea and Dione have been produced using various day and nighttime observations, taken by Cassini's Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS). The albedo maps show the same trend that has been previously observed on these satellites from reflected sunlight and thermal observati…
Equilibrium composition between liquid and clathrate reservoirs on Titan
Sotin, Christophe; Mousis, Olivier; Choukroun, Mathieu +1 more
Hundreds of lakes and a few seas of liquid hydrocarbons have been observed by the Cassini spacecraft to cover the polar regions of Titan. A significant fraction of these lakes or seas could possibly be interconnected with subsurface liquid reservoirs of alkanes. In this paper, we investigate the interplay that would happen between a reservoir of l…
Numerical simulation of tides and oceanic angular momentum of Titan’s hydrocarbon seas
Lorenz, Ralph D.; Tokano, Tetsuya; Van Hoolst, Tim
Tides and tidal currents in Titan's hydrocarbon seas are numerically simulated by a 3-dimensional ocean circulation model using a bathymetry map constrained by Cassini. These predictions are used to calculate the tidally induced variations of the oceanic angular momentum of the seas. The tides behave as a quasi-standing wave with anti-nodes at the…
Wind circulation regimes at Venus' cloud tops: Ground-based Doppler velocimetry using CFHT/ESPaDOnS and comparison with simultaneous cloud tracking measurements using VEx/VIRTIS in February 2011
Widemann, Thomas; Machado, Pedro; Luz, David +1 more
We present new results based on ground-based Doppler spectroscopic measurements, obtained with the ESPaDOnS spectrograph at Canada-France-Hawaii telescope (CFHT) and simultaneous observations of velocity fields, obtained from space by the VIRTIS-M instrument on board the Venus Express spacecraft. These measurements are based on high-resolution spe…