Mars Upper Atmospheric Density and Temperature Determined from Interplanetary Lyman-alpha Skyglow Absorption Measured with MEX/SPICAM

Details Mars Upper Atmospheric Density and Temperature Determined from Interplanetary Lyman-alpha Skyglow Absorption Measured with MEX/SPICAM Mars Upper Atmospheric Density and Temperature Determined from Interplanetary Lyman-alpha Skyglow Absorption Measured with MEX/SPICAM

Sep 2009

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009dps....41.5409r&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #41, #54.09

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Scientific paper

A novel technique for determining the density and temperature of Mars' upper atmosphere is presented. Hydrogen atoms in the Interplanetary Medium resonantly scatter Lyman-alpha emissions at 121.6 nm, creating a diffuse skyglow that illuminates the entire solar system at this far-ultraviolet wavelength. Mars Express (MEX) SPICAM UV spectrograph limb observations view the attenuation of this signal by CO2 as a function of altitude, much like the absorption of signal during a stellar occultation, transiting exoplanet, or mutual satellite event observation. Isothermal models of density and temperature are fit to the Lyman-alpha light curve data within the 90-120 km range. Foreground emissions by thermospheric and exospheric hydrogen atoms are constrained via simulations (e.g., Chaufray et al., Icarus, 2008). Preliminary results are in good agreement with higher quality stellar occultation measurements reported by Forget et al., JGR, 2009. This method complements the SPICAM stellar occultation dataset by providing additional temporal and spatial coverage for use in Mars thermosphere model-data comparisons.

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