Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
May 2004
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004agusm.p22a..01b&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Spring Meeting 2004, abstract #P22A-01
Mathematics
Logic
0300 Atmospheric Composition And Structure, 0305 Aerosols And Particles (0345, 4801), 3307 Boundary Layer Processes, 5409 Atmospheres: Structure And Dynamics, 5445 Meteorology (3346)
Scientific paper
While the Mars Exploration Rovers were primarily designed to address geologic questions on Mars, they have also proved to be capable and innovative atmospheric science platforms. We have used the rovers for both characterization and monitoring studies of the martian lower atmosphere in both the Gusev and Meridiani sites. The bulk of our observations fall in the following categories: (1) Thermal infrared spectra of the Martian sky taken by the Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer (Mini-TES). The actual sequences consist of both standard 200-second integrations and long ``stares'' of up to (almost) an hour. These data are highly diagnostic of vertical thermal structure (from 10 meters to 3-5 kilometers), aerosol optical depth along with particle size, and under the right thermal conditions, the water column. (2) Direct solar imaging using the Panchromatic Camera (Pancam) with the 440/880 nm + neutral density (ND5) filters, providing accurate measurements of visible optical depths. (3) Near-sun and ``sky-arc'' sequences using Pancam's full suite of geological filters, intended to capture the forward-diffraction peak and the phase function characteristics of the aerosol particles. (4) Carbon dioxide (15 micrometer band) profiling of the Mini-TES surface observations, providing an average near-surface (1 m) air temperature. The above activities have been used to characterize short-term, diurnal and secular trends, and to also examine spatial variability. In addition, serendipity has provided the unique opportunities of watching the decay of a moderate dust storm from two widely-separated sites as well as of multiple simultaneous orbiter-rover observing ``campaigns.'' The latter group includes thus far the Mars Express over-flights of Spirit on sols 13A and 29A and the nearly-nadir Mars Global Surveyor over-flight of Opportunity on sol 22B and Spirit on sol 45A. Finally, we have taken sunset movies to further diagnose the aerosol scattering properties and their vertical distribution. During our presentation, we will summarize the breadth of the atmospheric results, highlighting the novel contributions that the MER suite of instruments has provided to advance our understanding of the martian atmosphere.
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