Solar system

Abstract:

In this study, we report the results of an active-source seismology and ground-penetrating radar survey performed in northwestern Greenland at a site where the presence of a subglacial lake beneath the accumulation area has previously been proposed. Both seismic and radar results show a flat reflector approximately 830–845 m below the surface, with a seismic reflection coefficient of −0.43 ± 0.17, which is consistent with the acoustic impedance contrast between a layer of water and glacial ice. Additionally, in the seismic data we observe an intermittent lake bottom reflection arriving between 14–20 ms after the lake top reflection, corresponding to a lake depth of approximately 10–15 m. A strong coda following the lake top and lake bottom reflections is consistent with a package of lake bottom sediments although its thickness and material properties are uncertain. Finally, we use these results to conduct a first-order assessment of the lake origins using a one-dimensional thermal model and hydropotential modeling based on published surface and bed topography. Using these analyses, we narrow the lake origin hypotheses to either anomalously high geothermal flux or hypersalinity due to local ancient evaporite. Because the origins are still unclear, this site provides an intriguing opportunity for the first in situ sampling of a subglacial lake in Greenland, which could better constrain mechanisms of subglacial lake formation, evolution, and relative importance to glacial hydrology.

Abstract:

Hydrogen chloride gas was recently discovered in the atmosphere of Mars during southern summer seasons. Its connection with potential chlorine reservoirs and the related atmospheric chemistry is now of particular interest and actively studied. Measurements by the Atmospheric Chemistry Suite mid-infrared channel (ACS MIR) on the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter allow us to measure the ratio of hydrogen chloride two stable isotopologues, H35Cl and H37Cl. This work describes the observation, processing technique, and derived values for the chloride isotope ratio. Unlike other volatiles in the Martian atmosphere, because it is enriched with heavier isotopes, the δ37Cl is measured to be - 7 ± 20°, which is almost indistinguishable from the terrestrial ratio for chlorine. This value agrees with available measurements of the surface materials on Mars. We conclude that chlorine in observed HCl likely originates from dust and is not involved in any long-term, surface-atmosphere cycle.

Abstract:

Radiative-transfer (RT) is a fundamental part of modelling exoplanet atmospheres with general circulation models (GCMs). An accurate RT scheme is required for estimates of the atmospheric energy transport and for gaining physical insight from model spectra. We implement three RT schemes for Exo-FMS: semigrey, non-grey ‘picket fence’, and real gas with correlated-k. We benchmark the Exo-FMS GCM, using these RT schemes to hot Jupiter simulation results from the literature. We perform a HD 209458b-like simulation with the three schemes and compare their results. These simulations are then post-processed to compare their observable differences. The semigrey scheme results show qualitative agreement with previous studies in line with variations seen between GCM models. The real gas model reproduces well the temperature and dynamical structures from other studies. After post-processing our non-grey picket fence scheme compares very favourably with the real gas model, producing similar transmission spectra, emission spectra, and phase curve behaviours. Exo-FMS is able to reliably reproduce the essential features of contemporary GCM models in the hot gas giant regime. Our results suggest the picket fence approach offers a simple way to improve upon RT realism beyond semigrey schemes.

Abstract:

Ultraviolet spectral imaging has been a powerful tool to investigate the cloud top of Venus, allowing for measurement of several minor gases (especially SO , SO, O ), of cloud top aerosol's microphysical properties and of atmospheric dynamics through tracking of the unevenly distributed UV absorber. After a brief review of recent UV instruments that orbited around Venus, we present the results of a state-of-the-art radiative transfer model from Marcq et al. (2020) to derive the spectral resolution and Signal-to-Noise ratio (SNR) required to derive abundances of these gases, retrieve optical properties of the aerosols beyond our current knowledge. This leads us to propose a two-channel UV hyperspectral push-broom imager called VeSUV (standing for Venusian Spectroscopy in UV) whose technical characteristics will improve on existing measurements by a factor of at least 2, and which is well suited to the integration into the payload of future low Venus orbit platforms such as the proposed EnVision mission to ESA M5 call. 2 3