Properties of Martian Dust Aerosols From the Combination of MER and MGS/MRO Observations

Statistics – Methodology

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

0305 Aerosols And Particles (0345, 4801, 4906), 0343 Planetary Atmospheres (5210, 5405, 5704), 3360 Remote Sensing, 6225 Mars

Scientific paper

Remote sensing observations of the Martian atmosphere do not easily lend themselves to the notion of ground truth. While one might consider a high fidelity measurement from a surface platform (such as optical depth from direct solar imaging) to represent some degree of ground truth, connecting a series of orbital spacecraft observations to those of a surface station requires a temporal, as well as a spatial, overlap to account for the dynamical nature of the atmosphere. This concept of an overflight was exploited during the Viking era to provide a connection between lander and orbiter measurements of optical depth. Combined analyses have produced additional physical insights into Martian aerosols. Hunt (1979, JGR, 84, 8301) and Martin (1986, Icarus, 66, 2) examine Infrared Thermal Mapper observations obtained near the site with the context of lander data; Clancy and Lee (1991, Icarus, 193, 35) employ the lander optical depths as a demonstration of the viability of their emission phase function retrieval methodology. However, the overflights of the Viking era remain fundamentally limited by two aspects: the absence of multi-instrument coordinated (i.e., simultaneous, or nearly so) observations, and the lack of similar instrument capabilities on both the surface and the orbital platforms. Overflights of the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) have been able to overcome the limitations inherent in the earlier efforts. As a result, the MER-MGS and MER-MRO opportunities have been able to provide unique constraints on some basic dust properties (e.g., single scattering albedo, refractive indices). During our presentation, we will highlight the deriviation of infrared refractive indices from the MER-MGS data and the visible-near infrared single scattering albedo (as well as estimates of the refractive indices) from the MER-MRO data. The utility of these results for other applications such as atmospheric correction of retrieved surface reflectances, atmospheric heating rates, and additional atmospheric retrievals will be discussed briefly.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Properties of Martian Dust Aerosols From the Combination of MER and MGS/MRO Observations does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Properties of Martian Dust Aerosols From the Combination of MER and MGS/MRO Observations, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Properties of Martian Dust Aerosols From the Combination of MER and MGS/MRO Observations will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1237962

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.