Martian Dust Characteristics From Tes Data: A Confirmation of Albite Presence
Abstract
+39-6-49934382)
TES data are used here to characterise the spectral aspect of Martian dust, providing important indications on its composition. TES is an infrared Fourier spectrometer on board of Mars Global Surveyor mission. Its spectra cover the range [200;1650] cm- 1; in this region, an important dust band centered at 1100 cm-1 exists. Following the guidelines of our previous work on IRIS Mariner 9 data, departure from ideal planckian behavior inside this band is measured quantitatively by a parameter D. This parameter allows us to classify a huge number of spectra on the basis of apparent dust band intensity, once measurements with high emission angle, low surface temperature or evident water ice features are rejected. Spectra are grouped in different classes on the basis of D value and averaged together, in order to achieve a very high signal to noise ratio (each class containing about 50000 spectra) and enhance the features of suspended material. A subsequent filtering on the average spectra shows a number of minor features, diagnostic on dust composition. Previous results about presence of feldspars (albite in particular) are confirmed through extensive comparison with mineral transmittances libraries.- Publication:
-
EGS General Assembly Conference Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- 2002
- Bibcode:
- 2002EGSGA..27.2792M