Search Publications
A Two-Martian Years Survey of the Water Vapor Saturation State on Mars Based on ACS NIR/TGO Occultations
Montmessin, Franck; Trokhimovskiy, Alexander; Alday, Juan +9 more
On Mars, condensation is the major factor constraining the vertical distribution of water vapor. Recent measurements of water and temperature profiles showed that water can be strongly supersaturated at and above the level where clouds form during the aphelion and perihelion seasons. Since 2018, the near-infrared spectrometer (NIR) of the Atmosphe…
Mineralogy, Morphology, and Emplacement History of the Maaz Formation on the Jezero Crater Floor From Orbital and Rover Observations
Liu, Yang; Horgan, Briony; Ravanis, Eleni +42 more
The first samples collected by the Perseverance rover on the Mars 2020 mission were from the Maaz formation, a lava plain that covers most of the floor of Jezero crater. Laboratory analysis of these samples back on Earth would provide important constraints on the petrologic history, aqueous processes, and timing of key events in Jezero crater. How…
Carbon Dioxide Retrievals From NOMAD-SO on ESA's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter and Temperature Profiles Retrievals With the Hydrostatic Equilibrium Equation: 1. Description of the Method
Aoki, S.; Vandaele, A. C.; Daerden, F. +14 more
The Solar Occultation (SO) channel of the Nadir and Occultation for Mars Discovery (NOMAD) instrument has been scanning the Martian atmosphere for almost 2 Martian years. In this work, we present a subset of the NOMAD SO data measured at the mesosphere at the terminator. From the data set, we investigated 968 vertical profiles of carbon dioxide de…
Saturn's Atmosphere in Northern Summer Revealed by JWST/MIRI
Fletcher, Leigh N.; Hedman, Matthew M.; Guerlet, Sandrine +8 more
Saturn's northern summertime hemisphere was mapped by JWST/Mid-Infrared Instrument (4.9-27.9 µm) in November 2022, tracing the seasonal evolution of temperatures, aerosols, and chemical species in the 5 years since the end of the Cassini mission. The spectral region between reflected sunlight and thermal emission (5.1-6.8 µm) is mapped for the fir…
Water Vapor Vertical Distribution on Mars During Perihelion Season of MY 34 and MY 35 With ExoMars-TGO/NOMAD Observations
Aoki, S.; Vandaele, A. C.; Daerden, F. +18 more
The water vapor in the Martian atmosphere plays a significant role in the planet's climate, being crucial in most of the chemical and radiative transfer processes. Despite its importance, the vertical distribution of H2O in the atmosphere has not still been characterized precisely enough. The recent ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter mission, wi…
Martian Atmospheric Temperature and Density Profiles During the First Year of NOMAD/TGO Solar Occultation Measurements
Modak, Ashimananda; López-Valverde, Miguel Angel; Brines, Adrian +19 more
We present vertical profiles of temperature and density from solar occultation (SO) observations by the "Nadir and Occultation for Mars Discovery" (NOMAD) spectrometer on board the Trace Gas Orbiter during its first operational year, which covered the second half of Mars Year 34. We used calibrated transmittance spectra in 380 scans, and apply an …
An Energetic Eruption With Associated SO 1.707 Micron Emissions at Io's Kanehekili Fluctus and a Brightening Event at Loki Patera Observed by JWST
de Pater, Imke; Wong, Michael H.; Hedman, Matthew M. +24 more
We observed Io with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) while the satellite was in eclipse, and detected thermal emission from several volcanoes. The data were taken as part of our JWST-ERS program #1373 on 15 November 2022. Kanehekili Fluctus was exceptionally bright, and Loki Patera had most likely entered a new brightening phase. Spectra were…
Carbon Dioxide Retrievals From NOMAD-SO on ESA's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter and Temperature Profile Retrievals With the Hydrostatic Equilibrium Equation: 2. Temperature Variabilities in the Mesosphere at Mars Terminator
Aoki, S.; Vandaele, A. C.; Daerden, F. +14 more
The Solar Occultation (SO) channel of the Nadir and Occultation for Mars Discovery (NOMAD) instrument scans the Martian atmosphere since 21 April 2018. In this work, we present a subset of the NOMAD SO data measured at the mesosphere. We focused on a spectral range that started to be recorded in Martian year (MY) 35. A total of 968 vertical profil…
Energetic Neutral Atom (ENA) Emission Characteristics at the Moon and Mercury From 3D Regolith Simulations of Solar Wind Reflection
Wurz, P.; Fatemi, S.; Vorburger, A. +3 more
The reflection of solar wind protons as energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) from the lunar surface has regularly been used to study the plasma-surface interaction at the Moon. However, there still exists a fundamental lack of knowledge of the scattering process. ENA emission from the surface is expected to similarly occur at Mercury and will be studied…
Retrieval of Martian Atmospheric CO Vertical Profiles From NOMAD Observations During the First Year of TGO Operations
Modak, Ashimananda; López-Valverde, Miguel Angel; Brines, Adrian +19 more
We present CO density profiles up to about 100 km in the Martian atmosphere obtained for the first time from retrievals of solar occultation measurements by the Nadir and Occultation for Mars Discovery (NOMAD) onboard ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO). CO is an important trace gas on Mars, as it is controlled by CO2 photolysis, chemical r…