Analysis and modelling of CO2 and CO non-LTE emission at 4.3 um in Mars with PFS/MEx limb observations
Abstract
We present PFS-MEX limb observations of CO2 and CO non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (non-LTE) emission at 4.3 μm in the atmosphere of Mars collected in more than three Martian years. With unprecedented spatial and temporal coverage, and relatively high spectral resolution, this unique dataset promises to improve our understanding of the upper atmosphere of Mars. The spectral resolution of these spectra allow unambiguous identification of several emission bands. The complete spatial and temporal coverage allow analyses of the emission as a function of tangent altitude, solar zenith angle (SZA), local time, latitude, and season. We compare careful selections of measurements to simulated spectra to improve non-LTE calculations and develop a forward model to fit the emission spectra observed by PFS, and eventually build retrieval algorithm to derive isotopic abundances and key parameters of the middle and upper atmosphere of Mars (e.g., pressure and temperature).
- Publication:
-
EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2011
- Pub Date:
- October 2011
- Bibcode:
- 2011epsc.conf..393G