Deriving the surface composition of
Mercury from remote sensing hyper spectral data is a
challenging task. Mercury’s surface has a low iron
abundance, which complicates the application of “traditional”
space weathering approach. In addition the high
temperatures on Mercury lead to previously unseen
changes in the spectral characteristics, which we call
“thermal space weathering”.
The Planetary Emissivity Laboratory (PEL) at DLR
in Berlin was setup specifically to study the effects of
high temperatures on the spectral characteristics of planetary
analog materials. It allows characterizing “thermal
space weathering” and adds temperature as another important
factor for the creation of spectral libraries.
Thermal space weathering can produce reversible as
well as irreversible changes in the spectral characteristics
of materials. In comparison to “traditional space
weathering” it acts on much shorter timescales. We are
going to present a number of examples for thermal space
weathering effects in the visible as well as infrared spectral
range
