Toward a numerical deshaker for PFS

The Planetary Fourier Spectrometer (PFS) onboard Mars Express (MEx) is the instrument with the highest spectral resolution observing Mars from orbit since January 2004. It permits studying the atmospheric structure, major and minor compounds. The present time version of the calibration is limited by the effects of mechanical vibration, currently not corrected. We proposed here a new approach to correct for the vibrations based on semi-blind deconvolution of the measurements. This new approach shows that a correction can be done efficiently with 85% reduction of the artefacts, in a equivalent manner to the stacking of 10 spectra. Our strategy is not fully automatic due to the dependence on some regularisation parameters. It may be applied on the complete PFS dataset, correcting the large-scale perturbation due to microvibrations for each spectrum independently. This approach is validated on actual PFS data of Short Wavelength Channel (SWC), perturbed by microvibrations. A coherence check can be performed and also validate our approach. Unfortunately, the coherence check can be done only on the first 310 orbits of MEx only, until the laser line has been switch off. More generally, this work may apply to numerically "deshake" Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS), widely used in space experiments or in the laboratory.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Planetary and Space Scienc

Similarities and Differences of Global Dust Storms in MY 25, 28, and 34

To better understand the dust cycle on Mars during years with planet-encircling dust storms, we analyze the last three events that took place in Mars Year (MY) 25, MY 28, and MY 34. Global dust storms that occurred in MY 25 and MY 34 (June 2018) were taking place during equinox, while the MY 28 storm had an onset after perihelion. Before the expansion phase of the MY 25 and MY 34 storms, we find similar regions (northern rim of Hellas, Arabia Terra, and Utopia Planitia) where dust is present. Possible precursor dust storms over Hellas and the southern polar cap edges were observed during MY 28 as a component of background dust activity. These features are not found in equinoctial dust storms on this scale. Dust during the MY 25 and MY 34 storms encircled the entire planet by the similar season (Ls = 193°). The MY 34 storm is characterized by a shorter decay phase compared to the events in MY 25 and MY 28. Dust opacity is correlated with atmospheric temperatures at 0.5 mbar and nighttime surface temperatures, while daytime surface temperatures are anticorrelated with dust opacity

Mesospheric CO2 ice clouds on Mars observed by Planetary Fourier Spectrometer onboard Mars Express

We have investigated mesospheric CO2 ice clouds on Mars through analysis of near-infrared spectra acquired by Planetary Fourier Spectrometer (PFS) onboard the Mars Express (MEx) from MY 27 to MY 32. With the highest spectral resolution achieved thus far in the relevant spectral range among remote-sensing experiments orbiting Mars, PFS enables precise identification of the scattering peak of CO2 ice at the bottom of the 4.3 μm CO2 band. A total of 111 occurrences of CO2 ice cloud features have been detected over the period investigated. Data from the OMEGA imaging spectrometer onboard MEx confirm all of PFS detections from times when OMEGA operated simultaneously with PFS. The spatial and seasonal distributions of the CO2 ice clouds detected by PFS are consistent with previous observations by other instruments. We find CO2 ice clouds between Ls = 0° and 140° in distinct longitudinal corridors around the equatorial region (± 20°N). Moreover, CO2 ice clouds were preferentially detected at the observational LT range between 15-16 h in MY 29. However, observational biases prevent from distinguishing local time dependency from inter-annual variation. PFS also enables us to investigate the shape of mesospheric CO2 ice cloud spectral features in detail. In all cases, peaks were found between 4.240 and 4.265 μm. Relatively small secondary peaks were occasionally observed around 4.28 μm (8 occurrences). These spectral features cannot be reproduced using our radiative transfer model, which may be because the available CO2 ice refractive indices are inappropriate for the mesospheric temperatures of Mars, or because of the assumption in our model that the CO2 ice crystals are spherical and composed by pure CO2 ice

Preliminary analysis of PFS/MEx observations of Comet Siding Spring

On October 19th 2014, Mars experienced a close encounter with Comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring), at a distance of 138,000 km. We analyze observations by the Planetary Fourier Spectrometer (PFS) onboard Mars Express performed between October 13th and October 21st 2014 to search for spectral signatures of the comet and to investigate possible effects of its passage on the suspended dust and ice content in the Martian atmosphere

Explanation for the increase in high altitude water on Mars observed by NOMAD during the 2018 global dust storm

The Nadir and Occultation for MArs Discovery (NOMAD) instrument on board ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) measured a large increase in water vapor at altitudes in the range of 40‐100 km during the 2018 global dust storm on Mars. Using a three‐dimensional general circulation model, we examine the mechanism responsible for the enhancement of water vapor in the upper atmosphere. Experiments with different prescribed vertical profiles of dust show that when more dust is present higher in the atmosphere the temperature increases and the amount of water ascending over the tropics is not limited by saturation until reaching heights of 70‐100 km. The warmer temperatures allow more water to ascend to the mesosphere. Photochemical simulations show a strong increase in high‐altitude atomic hydrogen following the high‐altitude water vapor increase by a few days

Mesospheric CO2 ice clouds on Mars observed by Planetary Fourier Spectrometer onboard Mars Express

We investigate mesospheric CO2 ice clouds on Mars detected by the Planetary Fourier Spectrometer (PFS) onboard Mars Express (MEx). The relatively high spectral resolution of PFS allows firm identification of the clouds' reflection spike. A total of 279 occurrences of the CO2 ice clouds features has been detected at the bottom of 4.3 μm CO2 band from the MEx/PFS data during the period from MY27 to MY32. 115 occurrences out of them are also confirmed by simultaneous observations by MEx/OMEGA imaging spectrometer. The spatial and seasonal distributions of the CO2 ice clouds observed by PFS are consistent with the previous studies: the CO2 ice clouds are only observed between Ls=0° and 140° at distinct longitudinal corridors around the equatorial region (±20°N). The CO2 ice clouds are preferentially detected at local time between 15-17h. The relatively high spectral resolution of PFS allows us to investigate the spectral shape of the CO2 ice clouds features. The CO2 ice clouds reflection spike is peaked between 4.24 and 4.29 μm, with no evidence of the secondary peak at 4.32-4.34 μm observed by MEx/OMEGA (Määttänen et al., 2010). In most of the cases (about 75%), the peak is present between 4.245 and 4.255 μm. Moreover, small secondary peaks are found around 4.28 μm (about 15 occurrences). These spectral features cannot be reproduced by the synthetic spectra with the assumption of a spherical particle shape in our radiative transfer model (DISORT). This can be due to the fact that the available CO2 ice reflective indexes are either inaccurate or inappropriate for the mesospheric temperatures, or that the particle shape is not spherical. Accurate measurements of the reflective index depending on temperature and detailed comparison with the model taking into account non-spherical shapes will give a clue to solve this issue

The Atmospheric Chemistry Suite (ACS) of Three Spectrometers for the ExoMars 2016 Trace Gas Orbiter

The Atmospheric Chemistry Suite (ACS) package is an element of the Russian contribution to the ESA-Roscosmos ExoMars 2016 Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) mission. ACS consists of three separate infrared spectrometers, sharing common mechanical, electrical, and thermal interfaces. This ensemble of spectrometers has been designed and developed in response to the Trace Gas Orbiter mission objectives that specifically address the requirement of high sensitivity instruments to enable the unambiguous detection of trace gases of potential geophysical or biological interest. For this reason, ACS embarks a set of instruments achieving simultaneously very high accuracy (ppt level), very high resolving power (>10,000) and large spectral coverage (0.7 to 17 μm—the visible to thermal infrared range). The near-infrared (NIR) channel is a versatile spectrometer covering the 0.7–1.6 μm spectral range with a resolving power of ∼20,000. NIR employs the combination of an echelle grating with an AOTF (Acousto-Optical Tunable Filter) as diffraction order selector. This channel will be mainly operated in solar occultation and nadir, and can also perform limb observations. The scientific goals of NIR are the measurements of water vapor, aerosols, and dayside or night side airglows. The mid-infrared (MIR) channel is a cross-dispersion echelle instrument dedicated to solar occultation measurements in the 2.2–4.4 μm range. MIR achieves a resolving power of >50,000. It has been designed to accomplish the most sensitive measurements ever of the trace gases present in the Martian atmosphere. The thermal-infrared channel (TIRVIM) is a 2-inch double pendulum Fourier-transform spectrometer encompassing the spectral range of 1.7–17 μm with apodized resolution varying from 0.2 to 1.3 cm−1. TIRVIM is primarily dedicated to profiling temperature from the surface up to ∼60 km and to monitor aerosol abundance in nadir. TIRVIM also has a limb and solar occultation capability. The technical concept of the instrument, its accommodation on the spacecraft, the optical designs as well as some of the calibrations, and the expected performances for its three channels are described

The challenge and scientific application of the CO2 4.3 um atmospheric limb emission of Mars

The atmospheric fluorescent emissions of CO2 at 4.3- um have been observed in the daytime upper atmosphere of Mars from a limb geometry by the instruments OMEGA and PFS on board Mars Express [1, 8]. Initial analysis using non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) models show that the emissions are well understood [7, 3, 6]. Yet they have not been exploited to derive important thermospheric parameters, like CO2 densities and temperatures. Our major goals are to improve current NLTE models with a joint study of OMEGA and PFS data, and to build an ambitious state-of-the-art NLTE retreival scheme for Mars. Recent progress has been made in these directions on Mars, Venus and Earth. We will present a summary of these efforts and the difficulties and expectatives for its application to the Mars Express dat

Sensitive search of CH4 on Mars by SOFIA/EXES

We present the results of our sensitive search of CH4 on Mars using the Echelon-Cross-Echelle Spectrograph (EXES) onboard the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA)