Search Publications
Radar subsurface mapping of the polar layered deposits on Mars
Phillips, Roger J.; Nunes, Daniel Cahn
Determining the three-dimensional (3-D) structure of the Martian polar caps is fundamental to understanding their hydrologic history, dynamic behavior, past climatic changes, and the underlying lithosphere, and radar sounding is the most promising technique to do so. We model the dielectric profile of the Martian polar layered deposits (PLD), appl…
Mars water vapor abundance from SPICAM IR spectrometer: Seasonal and geographic distributions
Bertaux, Jean-Loup; Korablev, Oleg; Fedorova, Anna +3 more
The near-IR channel of SPICAM experiment on Mars Express spacecraft is a 800-g acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF)-based spectrometer operating in the spectral range of 1-1.7 µm with resolving power of ~2000. It was put aboard as an auxiliary channel dedicated to nadir H2O measurements in the 1.37-µm spectral band. This prim…
Vertical distribution of ozone on Mars as measured by SPICAM/Mars Express using stellar occultations
Montmessin, Franck; Bertaux, Jean-Loup; Perrier, Séverine +4 more
The ultraviolet spectrometer of the SPICAM instrument on board the European Mars Express mission has performed stellar occultations to probe the atmosphere. Vertical profiles of ozone are retrieved from inversion of transmission spectra in the altitude range 20-30 to 70 km. They are analyzed here as functions of latitude and season of the observat…
SPICAM IR acousto-optic spectrometer experiment on Mars Express
Gondet, B.; Grigoriev, A.; Bertaux, Jean-Loup +14 more
The SPICAM IR spectrometer on Mars Express mission (1.0-1.7 µm, spectral resolution 0.5-1.2 nm) is dedicated primarily to nadir measurements of H2O abundance. It is one of two channels of SPICAM UV-IR instrument. In this spectrometer we applied for the first time in planetary research the technology of an acousto-optic tunable fil…
The two Titan stellar occultations of 14 November 2003
Glass, I. S.; Jones, T.; Colas, F. +49 more
We report the observation of two stellar occultations by Titan on 14 November 2003, using stations in the Indian Ocean, southern Africa, Spain, and northern and southern Americas. These occultations probed altitudes between ~550 and 250 km (~1 to 250 µbar) in Titan's upper stratosphere. The light curves reveal a sharp inversion layer near 51…
Geological evolution of the Tyras Vallis paleolacustrine system, Mars
Reiss, Dennis; Neukum, Gerhard; Hauber, Ernst +4 more
Using the new High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) data and other Martian data sets, we reconstructed the hydrological history of an unnamed complex crater in the Xanthe Terra region. The crater hosted a lacustrine basin fed by a dense and centripetal drainage system, developed along its inner rim, and by the Tyras Vallis channel. Where the Tyras …
Winds on Titan from ground-based tracking of the Huygens probe
Plettemeier, D.; Bird, M. K.; Asmar, S. W. +14 more
Large radio telescopes on Earth tracked the radio signal transmitted by the Huygens probe during its mission at Titan. Frequency measurements were conducted as a part of the Huygens Doppler Wind Experiment (DWE) in order to derive the velocity of the probe in the direction to Earth. The DWE instrumentation on board Huygens consisted of an ultrasta…
Vertical wind shear on Jupiter from Cassini images
West, Robert A.; Porco, Carolyn C.; Ingersoll, Andrew P. +5 more
Multifilter images of Jupiter acquired by the Cassini Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) are used to derive zonal winds at altitudes above and below the visible cloud deck. Small features unique to the ultraviolet images of ISS are tracked to get the systematic high-altitude zonal winds. Comparison between the zonal winds from ultraviolet images and …
Titan's planetary boundary layer structure at the Huygens landing site
Colombatti, Giacomo; Tokano, Tetsuya; Ferri, Francesca +2 more
Huygens Atmospheric Structure Instrument (HASI) for the first time performed an in situ measurement of the thermal structure in Titan's atmosphere with a vertical resolution sufficient to analyze the planetary boundary layer (PBL). The vertical potential temperature profile reveals the presence of a weakly convective PBL, with a surface layer thic…
Dust and cloud detection at the Mars limb with UV scattered sunlight with SPICAM
Montmessin, F.; Korablev, O.; Bertaux, J. -L. +3 more
The UV detector of Spectroscopy for the Investigation of the Characteristics of the Atmosphere of Mars (SPICAM) on board Mars Express has measured several profiles of light scattered at the limb of Mars. In this paper we present 33 profiles taken between January 2004 and August 2005. Scattering of UV light at the limb of Mars is due to the molecul…