Retrieval of CO Relative Column Abundance in the Martian Thermosphere From FUV Disk Observations by EMM EMUS

International audienceCarbon monoxide (CO) is a sensitive tracer of the thermal profile and winds in Mars' middle atmosphere and the chemistry that balances CO2 in the whole atmosphere of Mars. The Emirates Ultraviolet Spectrometer (EMUS) onboard the Emirates Mars Mission Hope probe images Mars at ultraviolet wavelengths from approximately 100 to 170 nm. ΣCO/CO2, the column density ratio of CO to carbon dioxide, provides a sensitive measure of CO relative variability within the Martian thermosphere. Derived from the heritage of ΣO/N2 used at Earth, the ΣCO/CO2 algorithm uses emission from the CO Fourth Positive Group band system to derive the relative column abundance of CO above ∼70 km. We describe the EMUS ΣCO/CO2 algorithm, review the Level 3 data product, and discuss preliminary validation of the algorithm. The ΣCO/CO2 algorithm produces column density ratios that characterize the spatial structure and relative variability of CO abundance in the Martian thermosphere

The Emirates Mars Mission

International audienceThe Emirates Mars Mission (EMM) was launched to Mars in the summer of 2020, and is the first interplanetary spacecraft mission undertaken by the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The mission has multiple programmatic and scientific objectives, including the return of scientifically useful information about Mars. Three science instruments on the mission's Hope Probe will make global remote sensing measurements of the Martian atmosphere from a large low-inclination orbit that will advance our understanding of atmospheric variability on daily and seasonal timescales, as well as vertical atmospheric transport and escape. The mission was conceived and developed rapidly starting in 2014, and had aggressive schedule and cost constraints that drove the design and implementation of a new spacecraft bus. A team of Emirati and American engineers worked across two continents to complete a fully functional and tested spacecraft and bring it to the launchpad in the middle of a global pandemic. EMM is being operated from the UAE and the United States (U.S.), and will make its data freely available