Detección de tornados en la atmósfera de Marte

En el presente trabajo se tratará sobre la detección de determinados fenómenos meteorológicos en la atmósfera de Marte, concretamente dust devils, empleando distintos algoritmos para este fin. Los dust devils son remolinos de polvo, son semejantes a los tornados terrestres, que se forman cuando el aire caliente cerca de la superficie se eleva rápidamente hacia una bolsa de aire frio de baja presión por encima de ella. Los más grandes pueden representar una amenaza para la tecnología terrestre enviada a Marte, de ahí la importancia de su detección. En primer lugar se expondrá un resumen a modo de estado del arte de las principales técnicas de detección de eventos y de análisis de señal que han tenido relevancia en el desarrollo de las técnicas de análisis tiempo-frecuencia. Se desarrollará y analizará el funcionamiento de varios algoritmos basados en distintos métodos y algoritmos de detección de fenómenos y patrones sobre series temporales de datos. En concreto para detectar estos fenómenos se utilizarán datos de presión atmosférica recogidos en Marte, ya que los dust devils se manifiestan como bajadas bruscas en los valores de la presión durante un periodo de tiempo muy corto. A partir de los datos recogidos por la sonda marciana Mars Pathfinder a lo largo de su misión en el planeta rojo, se procesarán y analizarán, mediante el uso de estos algoritmos, con el fin de detectar los fenómenos atmosféricos conocidos como dust devils. Finalmente se realizará un análisis de los resultados obtenidos con los distintos algoritmos y métodos de detección, a la hora de detectar los dust devils, y se comparará el rendimiento y funcionamiento de éstos algoritmos con el fin de determinar cuál de ellos podría resultar más conveniente para su utilización en una sonda destinada a una misión espacial.The present work will deal with the detection of certain weather phenomena in the atmosphere of Mars, dust devils specifically , using different algorithms for this purpose. The dust devils are dust devils are similar to terrestrial tornadoes that form when hot air near the surface rises quickly to a bag of cold low pressure air above it. The largest can threaten terrestrial technology sent to Mars, hence the importance of their detection. First, a summary about the state of the art of the main techniques of event detection and signal analysis, that have relevance in the development of the techniques of timefrequency analysis, will be discussed. The project will develop and analyze the performance of several methods based on different patterns and phenomena detection methods and algorithms over time series data. Specifically, to detect these atmospheric phenomena, the pressure data collected from Mars will be used. This is because the dust devils manifest as sudden drops in pressure values during a very short time. From the data collected by the Mars Pathfinder Mars probe along his mission in the red planet, the data will be processed and analyzed through the use of these algorithms in order to detect the atmospheric phenomena known as dust devils. Finally, an analysis of the results obtained, with different detection algorithms and methods to detect dust devils, will be performed, and the functioning and performance of these algorithms will be compared in order to determine which of them might be more convenient for use in a probe destined for a space mission

Study of the Martian environment for application to the design of a greenhouse

The human exploration of Mars belongs to the current plans of NASA and ESA. Getting the astronauts to Mars and returning them safely to Earth imposes several engineering challenges. In particular, creating the conditions for living on the Martian surface requires in the first place a thorough understanding of the Martian environment. Installing a manned base would require the implementation of life support systems including the appropriate means to provide food to the astronauts. The word “appropriate” in this context suggests the idea of “plant cultivation”. This study is a reconstruction of the environment and climate of Mars. It develops through a review of the observation and in-situ data collected over 50 years of study and exploration. The review is followed by the study, understanding, revision and implementation of the models based on such data and on the physics of the main processes that affect the environment and the climate. The final objective is to provide a solid basis for selecting one or more candidate sites for the installation and operation of a greenhouse. Such candidates should undergo further analyses concerning the geological and engineering issues inherent to the realization of such an ambitious project. These analyses are out of the scope of this work, which focuses on the physics of the environment and the climate of the red planet. It should also be noted that the implications of this project go much beyond the specific proposed application because they have a clear scientific value and an intrinsic originality. As a matter of fact, this work has implied collecting, understanding, organizing and elaborating data and models which are often heterogeneous and dispersed. The result is the first global model of the Martian environment. As such, this study can be of considerable help in the feasibility studies of future missions to Mars, be them manned or robotic