Search Publications
Martian surface microtexture from orbital CRISM multi-angular observations: A new perspective for the characterization of the geological processes
Schmidt, F.; Douté, S.; Fernando, J.
The surface of Mars has a high morphological and mineralogical diversity due to the intricacy of external, internal processes, and exchanges with the atmosphere, the hydrosphere and the cryosphere. In particular, liquid water played an important role in surface evolution. However, the origin, duration and intensity of those wet events have been hi…
The daily processing of asteroid observations by Gaia
Muinonen, Karri; Fedorets, Grigori; Pentikäinen, Hanna +15 more
The Gaia mission started its regular observing program in the summer of 2014, and since then it is regularly obtaining observations of asteroids. This paper draws the outline of the data processing for Solar System objects, and in particular on the daily ;short-term; processing, from the on-board data acquisition to the ground-based processing. We…
Separation of dynamic and isostatic components of the Venusian gravity and topography and determination of the crustal thickness of Venus
Yang, An; Huang, Jinshui; Wei, Daiyun
Assuming that the long-wavelength geoid and topography of Venus are supported by both mantle convection and Airy isostasy, we propose a method to separate the dynamic and isostatic components of the Venusian gravity and topography with the aid of the dynamic admittance from numerical models of mantle convection and the isostatic admittance from an…
A comprehensive analysis of ion cyclotron waves in the equatorial magnetosphere of Saturn
Simon, Sven; Kabanovic, Slawa; Meeks, Zachary
We present a comprehensive analysis of ion cyclotron waves in the equatorial magnetosphere of Saturn, considering all magnetic field data collected during the Cassini era (totaling to over 4 years of data from the equatorial plane). This dataset includes eight targeted flybys of Enceladus, three targeted flybys of Dione, and three targeted flybys …
Systematic processing of Mars Express HRSC panchromatic and colour image mosaics: Image equalisation using an external brightness reference
Jaumann, R.; van Gasselt, S.; Dumke, A. +8 more
After more than ten years in orbit at Mars, the coverage from the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on the European Space Agency's Mars Express is sufficient to begin constructing mosaic products on a global scale. We describe our systematic processing procedure and, in particular, the technique used to bring images affected by atmospheric dust…
Polarimetry observations of comets: Status, questions, future pathways
Hines, Dean C.; Levasseur-Regourd, Anny-Chantal
Polarimetric observations of comets have provided crucial insight into the composition and evolution of cometary dust particles. Herein, we present a brief overview of the polarization properties observed in comets, and some possible interpretations. We also discuss recent imaging polarimetry observations of C/2012 S1 (ISON) and 67P/Churyumov-Gera…
The morphology of the topside ionosphere of Mars under different solar wind conditions: Results of a multi-instrument observing campaign by Mars Express in 2010
Fränz, M.; Pätzold, M.; Wild, J. A. +17 more
Since the internally-generated magnetic field of Mars is weak, strong coupling is expected between the solar wind, planetary magnetosphere, and planetary ionosphere. However, few previous observational studies of this coupling incorporated data that extended from the solar wind to deep into the ionosphere. Here we use solar wind, magnetosphere, an…
A novel method for surface exploration: Super-resolution restoration of Mars repeat-pass orbital imagery
Tao, Y.; Muller, J. -P.
Higher resolution imaging data of planetary surfaces is considered desirable by the international community of planetary scientists interested in improving understanding of surface formation processes. However, given various physical constraints from the imaging instruments through to limited bandwidth of transmission one needs to trade-off spatia…
The color ratio-intensity relation in the Jovian aurora: Hubble observations of auroral components
Bonfond, B.; Gérard, J. -C.; Grodent, D. +1 more
Spectral observations made with the long slit of the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) on board Hubble have been used to construct spectral maps of the FUV Jovian aurora. They reveal that the amount of absorption by overlying methane shows significant spatial variations. In this report, we examine the relationship between the auroral bri…
InSight coordinates determination from direct-to-Earth radio-tracking and Mars topography model
Le Maistre, Sébastien
The InSight mission is planned to land on the surface of Mars in September 2016. Close to the equator in Elysium Planitia, in the vicinity of the Curiosity location, the exact landing site coordinates cannot be provided by the navigation team. The direct-to-Earth (DTE) Doppler measurements are rarely included in the early lander localization proce…