Space instrumentation

Abstract:

Methane (CH4) on Mars is of high scientific importance, particularly for its generation and destruction mechanisms. With an estimated photochemical lifetime of approximately 300 years, sporadic methane plumes observed on Mars by orbital, landed missions, and Earth-based telescopes suggest the presence of unknown destruction processes. Here, we present an experiment to examine CH4 destruction through heterogeneous electrochemistry (HEC) triggered by Martian dust activities. We performed a series of mid-strength electrostatic discharge (ESD) experiments in mixtures of CO2 and CH4 under conditions relevant to the Martian near-surface atmosphere. We characterized (1) the free radicals produced from the breakdown of CH4 and CO2; (2) the gaseous and solid products of CH4 and CO2 decomposition; and (3) the half-life of CH4 in this experiment. Based on a newly reported mission observation of electric discharge during a dust devil (DD) on Mars, we extrapolated the experimentally derived half-life to an approximate dust-devil-effective half-life of CH4 on Mars, with uncertainties spanning orders of magnitude. The result demonstrates that dust-driven HEC can cause CH4 destruction at rates hundreds to thousands of times faster than photochemistry. In future missions to Mars, if the knowledge gaps in the E-properties of dust activity are filled through regular measurements, this experimental finding may imply that Martian dust activity could be the primary factor reducing methane's lifetime, thereby contributing to understanding methane loss in the Martian atmosphere.

Abstract:

Abstract Comparing observed and predicted surface temperatures on airless planetary bodies is crucial for interpreting their surface processes, constraining activity, and deriving their surface properties. We present a new tool in this endeavour: TEMPEST (Thermophysical Evolution Model for Planetary Environment Surface Temperatures). It is a modular, open-source Python model for diurnal thermal evolution on irregular bodies. TEMPEST can reproduce non-Lambertian multiple scattering using arbitrary Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Functions (BRDFs) and notably incorporates surface roughness on sub-facet scales through representative sphere-section geometry. The model includes an explicit time-stepping one-dimensional periodic conduction solver influenced by Spencer’s thermal model Thermprojrs, and a semi-implicit Crank-Nicolson solver, and can be paired with other thermal solvers. Precomputed look-up tables enable fast application of scattering laws (Lambertian, Lommel-Seeliger, Hapke, or input empirical BRDF data), allowing the user to assess their effects in permanently shadowed regions or partially shadowed terrains. TEMPEST is parallelised, running on personal computers in minutes for thousands of facets and scaling to high-performance servers for models exceeding 100,000 facets. Validation was performed against Thermprojrs in one dimension, against Sorli’s Binary Thermophysical Model in three dimensions, and with empirical thermal data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, showing good agreement in each case. Application to the high-resolution shape-model of 25143 Itokawa shows the importance of self-shadowing and radiative mutual heating in controlling local temperatures. TEMPEST has already been used to analyse data from the Lucy Mission, Galileo, and ground-based observations, and is adaptable to upcoming datasets from targets of missions such as Comet Interceptor and Europa Clipper.