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Dunes near Ulyxis Rupes by ExoMars TGO CaSSIS

Dunes near Ulyxis Rupes by ExoMars TGO CaSSIS

Credit: ESA/UBern

Dr Kevin Olsen

UKSA Mars Science Fellow

Research theme

  • Exoplanets and planetary physics

Sub department

  • Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics

Research groups

  • Planetary atmosphere observation analysis
  • Planetary surfaces
  • Solar system
  • Space instrumentation
kevin.olsen@physics.ox.ac.uk
Atmospheric Physics Clarendon Laboratory
  • About
  • Publications

CV

A short BioCV
Full academic CV (June 2024)

I am working on data analysis for the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter Atmospheric Chemistry Suite. My objective is to measure high quality vertical profiles of gases present in the atmosphere of Mars, to search for undetected species, such methane and other organics, and chlorine- or sulphur-bearing molecules. I use these results to help understand the photochemistry, dynamics, and climatology of Mars.

Oxford Physics stories:

  • https://www2.physics.ox.ac.uk/news/2020/07/17/new-spectral-signatures-exomars-sheds-light-on-mars%E2%80%99-methane-and-atmosphere
  • ​https://www2.physics.ox.ac.uk/news/2021/01/19/understanding-more-about-mars
  • https://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/news/exomars-discovers-hydrogen-chloride-mars

Recent interviews:

  • New Scientist: life on Mars deep underground
  • Wall Street Journal: on the etymology of the word fluffle
  • The Conversation: on the end of Ingenuity (editorial contribution from me)
  • Eos: Editor Highlights on the ozone-water correlation
  • The National: on Martian volcanic activity
  • Gizmodo: on the discovery of HCl
  • Sky and Telescope: on the discovery of HCl
  • The Analytical Scientist: on CO2 and O3 where methane should be

Selected ExoMars publications:

  • Special issue in JGR Planets: ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter: One Martian Year of Science
  • Olsen, K. S., Fedorova, A. A., Forget, F., Millour, E., Bierjon, A., Trokhimovskiy, A., Montmessin, F.,
    Lefèvre, F., Korablev, O. I., Baggio, L., Alday, J., Wilson, C. F., Irwin, P. G. J., Belyaev, D. A., Patrakeev,
    A., & Shakun, A. Seasonal changes in the vertical structure of ozone in the Martian lower atmosphere
    and its relationship to water vapour. Journal of Geophysical Research 127, e2022JE007213 (2022),
    https://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2022JE007213. Eos Editor’s Highlight.
  • Olsen, K. S., Trokhimovskiy, A., Braude, A. S., Korablev, O. I., Fedorova, A. A., Wilson, C. F., Patel,
    M. R., Irwin, P. G. J., Montmessin, F., Lefèvre, F., Baggio, L., Alday, J., Belyaev, D. A., Patrakeev, A.,
    &, Shakun, A. Upper limits for phosphine (PH3) in the atmosphere of Mars. Astronomy
    & Astrophysics 649, L1 (2021), https://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202140868.
  • Olsen, K. S., Trokhimovskiy, A., Montabone, L., Fedorova, A. A., Luginin, M., Lefèvre, F., Korablev,
    O. I., Montmessin, F., Forget, F., Millour, E., Baggio, L., Alday, J., Wilson, C. F., Irwin, P. G. J., Belyaev,
    D. A., Patrakeev, A., &, Shakun, A. Seasonal reappearance of HCl in the atmosphere of Mars during
    the Mars year 35 dusty season. Astronomy & Astrophysics 647, A161 (2021), https://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202140329.
  • Korablev, O., Olsen, K. S. et al. Transient HCl in the atmosphere of Mars. Science Advances 7, eabe4386
    (2021), https://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abe4386.
  • Olsen, K. S., Lefèvre, F., Montmessin, F., Fedorova, A. A., Trokhimovskiy, A., Baggio, L., Korablev,
    O., Alday, J., Wilson, C. F., Forget, F., Belyaev, D. A., Patrakeev, A., Grigoriev, A., & Shakun, A.
    The vertical structure of CO in the Martian atmosphere from the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. Nature
    Geoscience 14, 67–71 (2021), https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41561-020-00678-w.
  • Trokhimovskiy, A., Perevalov, V., Korablev, O., Fedorova, A. A., Olsen, K. S., Bertaux, J.-L., Patrakeev,
    A., Shakun, A., Montmessin, F., & Lefèvre, F. First observation of the magnetic dipole CO2 main
    isotopologue absorption band at 3.3 μm in the atmosphere of Mars by ExoMars ACS. Astronomy &
    Astrophysics 639, A142 (2020), https://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202038134.
  • Olsen, K. S., Lefèvre, F., Montmessin, F., Trokhimovskiy, A., Baggio, L., Fedorova, A. A., Alday, J.,
    Lomakin, A., Belyaev, D. A., Patrakeev, A., Shakun, A., & Korablev, O. First detection of ozone in the
    mid-infrared at Mars: implications for methane detection. Astronomy & Astrophysics 639, A141 (2020),
    https://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202038125.

Some Images:

Cover of Nature Geoscience
Cover of Nature Geoscience supporting the first measurements of the vertical structure of carbon monoxide (CO) on Mars.

 

 

Possible chlorine cycle in the atmosphere of Mars

Possible chlorine cycle in the atmosphere of Mars

A possible cycle of HCl chemistry in the atmosphere of Mars proposed after the discovery of HCl made with the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter's Atmospheric Chemistry Suite.
Read the ESA web-release here:
https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/E…

New absorption features where methane was expected

New absorption features where methane was expected

While the hunt for methane on Mars with the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter has not verified claims of its existence, in the spectral range where it would be we have instead found a new signature of CO2, and an unexpected strong signature of ozone using the Atmospheric Chemistry Suite.
Read the ESA web-release here: https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/E…

Selected publications

Seasonal changes in the vertical structure of ozone in the Martian lower atmosphere and its relationship to water vapor

Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets Wiley 127:10 (2022) e2022JE007213
KS Olsen, AA Fedorova, A Trokhimovskiy, F Montmessin, F Lefèvre, O Korablev, L Baggio, F Forget, E Millour, A Bierjon, J Alday, CF Wilson, PGJ Irwin, DA Belyaev, A Patrakeev, A Shakun

Seasonal reappearance of HCl in the atmosphere of Mars during the Mars year 35 dusty season

Astronomy and Astrophysics EDP Sciences 647:March 2021 (2021) A161
Kevin Olsen, A Trokhimovskiy, L Montabone, Aa Fedorova, M Luginin, F Lefèvre, Oi Korablev, F Montmessin, F Forget, E Millour, L Baggio, Juan Alday Parejo, Cf Wilson, Patrick Irwin, Da Belyaev, A Patrakeev, A Shakun

Transient HCl in the atmosphere of Mars

Science Advances American Association for the Advancement of Science 7:7 (2021) eabe4386
Oleg Korablev, Kevin S Olsen, Alexander Trokhimovskiy, Franck Lefèvre, Franck Montmessin, Anna A Fedorova, Michael J Toplis, Juan Alday, Denis A Belyaev, Andrey Patrakeev, Nikolay I Ignatiev, Alexey V Shakun, Alexey V Grigoriev, Lucio Baggio, Irbah Abdenour, Gaetan Lacombe, Yury S Ivanov, Shohei Aoki, Ian R Thomas, Frank Daerden, Bojan Ristic, Justin T Erwin, Manish Patel, Giancarlo Bellucci, Jose-Juan Lopez-Moreno, Ann C Vandaele
See all publications

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