Planetary atmosphere observation analysis

Abstract:

NIMS is the Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer on board the Galileo spacecraft in jovian orbit. We have selected four maps of warm-to-hot regions of the North Equatorial Belt (NEB) for study, analyzing the spectra emerging in the low-opacity 5-μm window. Two methods for calculating the spectrum have been used. The first is a full-scattering radiative transfer forward model that is slow but accurate. The second method calculates spectra by interpolating on a grid of spectra precalculated using the first method for a range of model atmospheres. This method of forward calculation is more suited to analysis of large data sets where application of the full radiative transfer in every instance would be computationally prohibitive. The faster method is verified against the first before being used alone. A retrieval (inversion) algorithm is then used to match model spectra to data and obtain values for cloud opacities and gas mixing ratios. We first sum spectra with similar peak radiances to produce mean spectra representative of brighter and darker (at 5 μm) regions of the maps. These coadded spectra are then analyzed with the fast retrieval code to obtain the average variations in atmospheric parameters from the center to the edges of the hotspots. These analyses confirm that 5-μm hotspots are relatively cloud free, and that a medium level (1.5-bar) cloud layer of large NH4SH particles is the main absorber at these wavelengths. Variations in water vapor relative humidity and high (0.5-bar) ammonia cloud opacity are also derived. We then analyze single spectra over wide areas to produce spatial maps of parameter variations. We find that models that do not include a deep water cloud (~4 bar) do not match all the spectra to within the noise level. A deep water cloud therefore seems to be present in localized areas, toward the edges of the hotspot regions. We examine these findings in the light of results from other Galileo instruments, concluding that the deep cloud observed by the SSI instrument at several locations is likely to be the deep water cloud required by the NIMS data. © 2001 Academic Press.

Abstract:

Future missions to measure the mid-infrared spectra of extrasolar planets will obtain spectra spatially integrated over the visible hemisphere of the planet. Interpretation of these spectra will be difficult because they will depend on several imponderable factors; the axial inclination of the planet to the line of sight, the illumination of the planet by its parent star, and the planets' season and climatic state. The spectra will also contain variable components due to changing clouds, planetary rotation and the presence of large satellites. In order to interpret better such spectra, and to constrain the design of missions to measure them, a study is underway of a dedicated mission to take spectra of the spatially-unresolved Earth and to quantify the dependence of the spectrum on these variables.