Planetary atmosphere observation analysis

Abstract:

We present retrievals of the vertical temperature profile of Jupiter's high latitudes from Infrared Telescope Facility-Texas Echelon Cross Echelle Spectrograph measurements acquired on 10–11 December 2014 and 30 April to 1 May 2016. Over this time range, 1 mbar temperature in Jupiter's northern and southern auroral regions exhibited independent evolution. The northern auroral hot spot exhibited negligible net change in temperature at 1 mbar and its longitudinal position remained fixed at 180°W (System III), whereas the southern auroral hot spot exhibited a net increase in temperature of 11.1 ± 5.2 K at 0.98 mbar and its longitudinal orientation moved west by approximately 30°. This southern auroral stratospheric temperature increase might be related to (1) near-contemporaneous brightening of the southern auroral ultraviolet/near-infrared H + 3 emission measured by the Juno spacecraft and (2) an increase in the solar dynamical pressure in the preceding 3 days. We therefore suggest that 1 mbar temperature in the southern auroral region might be modified by higher-energy charged particle precipitation.

Abstract:

The scientific objectives of the ExoMars rover are designed to answer several key questions in the search for life on Mars. In particular, the unique subsurface drill will address some of these, such as the possible existence and stability of subsurface organics. PanCam will establish the surface geological and morphological context for the mission, working in collaboration with other context instruments. Here, we describe the PanCam scientific objectives in geology, atmospheric science, and 3-D vision. We discuss the design of PanCam, which includes a stereo pair of Wide Angle Cameras (WACs), each of which has an 11-position filter wheel and a High Resolution Camera (HRC) for high-resolution investigations of rock texture at a distance. The cameras and electronics are housed in an optical bench that provides the mechanical interface to the rover mast and a planetary protection barrier. The electronic interface is via the PanCam Interface Unit (PIU), and power conditioning is via a DC-DC converter. PanCam also includes a calibration target mounted on the rover deck for radiometric calibration, fiducial markers for geometric calibration, and a rover inspection mirror. Key Words: Mars-ExoMars-Instrumentation-Geology-Atmosphere-Exobiology-Context. Astrobiology 17, 511-541.

Abstract:

We have measured a precise optical transmission spectrum forWASP-52b, a highly inflated hot Jupiter with an equilibrium temperature of 1300 K. Two transits of the planet were observed spectroscopically at low resolution with the auxiliary-port camera on the William Herschel Telescope, covering a wide range of 4000-8750 Å. We use a Gaussian process approach to model the correlated noise in the multiwavelength light curves, resulting in a high precision relative transmission spectrum with errors of the order of a pressure scaleheight.We attempted to fit a variety of different representative model atmospheres to the transmission spectrum, but did not find a satisfactory match to the entire spectral range. For the majority of the covered wavelength range (4000-7750 Å), the spectrum is flat, and can be explained by an optically thick and grey cloud layer at 0.1 mbar, but this is inconsistent with a slightly deeper transit at wavelengths > 7750 Å.We were not able to find an obvious systematic source for this feature, so this opacity may be the result of an additional unknown absorber.

Abstract:

The Venus International Reference Atmosphere (VIRA) model contains tabulated values of temperature and number densities obtained by the experiments on the Venera entry probes, Pioneer Venus Orbiter and multi-probe missions in the 1980s. The instruments on the recent Venus Express orbiter mission generated a significant amount of new observational data on the vertical and horizontal structure of the Venus atmosphere from 40 km to about 180 km altitude from April 2006 to November 2014. Many ground based experiments have provided data on the upper atmosphere (90-130 km) temperature structure since the publication of VIRA in 1985. The "Thermal Structure of the Venus Atmosphere" Team was supported by the International Space Studies Institute (ISSI), Bern, Switzerland, from 2013 to 2015 in order to combine and compare the ground-based observations and the VEx observations of the thermal structure as a first step towards generating an updated VIRA model. Results of this comparison are presented in five latitude bins and three local time bins by assuming hemispheric symmetry. The intercomparison of the ground-based and VEx results provides for the first time a consistent picture of the temperature and density structure in the 40 km–180 km altitude range. The Venus Express observations have considerably increased our knowledge of the Venus atmospheric thermal structure above ∼40 km and provided new information above 100 km. There are, however, still observational gaps in latitude and local time above certain regions. Considerable variability in the temperatures and densities is seen above 100 km but certain features appear to be systematically present, such as a succession of warm and cool layers. Preliminary modeling studies support the existence of such layers in agreement with a global scale circulation. The intercomparison focuses on average profiles but some VEx experiments provide sufficient global coverage to identify solar thermal tidal components.

The differences between the VEx temperature profiles and the VIRA below 0.1 mbar/95 km are small. There is, however, a clear discrepancy at high latitudes in the 10-30 mbar (70-80 km) range. The VEx observations will also allow the improvement of the empirical models (VTS3 by Hedin et al., 1983 and VIRA by Keating et al., 1985) above 0.03 mbar/100 km, in particular the 100-150 km region where a sufficient observational coverage was previously missing. The next steps in order to define the updated VIRA temperature structure up to 150 km altitude are (1) define the grid on which this database may be provided, (2) fill what is possible with the results of the data intercomparison, and (3) fill the observational gaps. An interpolation between the datasets may be performed by using available General Circulation Models as guidelines.

An improved spatial coverage of observations is still necessary at all altitudes, in latitude-longitude and at all local solar times for a complete description of the atmospheric thermal structure, in particular on the dayside above 100 km. New in-situ observations in the atmosphere below 40 km are missing, an altitude region that cannot be accessed by occultation experiments. All these questions need to be addressed by future missions.