Radar soundings of the ionosphere of Mars

We report the first radar soundings of the ionosphere of Mars with the MARSIS (Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding) instrument on board the orbiting Mars Express spacecraft. Several types of ionospheric echoes are observed, ranging from vertical echoes caused by specular reflection from the horizontally stratified ionosphere to a wide variety of oblique and diffuse echoes. The oblique echoes are believed to arise mainly from ionospheric structures associated with the complex crustal magnetic fields of Mars. Echoes at the electron plasma frequency and the cyclotron period also provide measurements of the local electron density and magnetic field strength.     

Radar soundings of the subsurface of Mars

The martian subsurface has been probed to kilometer depths by the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding instrument aboard the Mars Express orbiter. Signals penetrate the polar layered deposits, probably imaging the base of the deposits. Data from the northern lowlands of Chryse Planitia have revealed a shallowly buried quasi-circular structure about 250 kilometers in diameter that is interpreted to be an impact basin. In addition, a planar reflector associated with the basin structure may indicate the presence of a low-loss deposit that is more than 1 kilometer thick.     

Viking orbital colorimetric images of Mars: preliminary results

Color reconstruction and ratios of orbital images of Mars confirm Earth-based measurements showing red/violet ratios for bright areas to be roughly 1.5 times greater than dark areas. The new results show complex variation among dark materials; dark streaks emanating from craters in southern cratered terrains are much bluer than dark materials of the north equatorial plains on which Viking 1 landed.     

Radar mapping of mercury: full-disk images and polar anomalies

A random-code technique has been used at Arecibo to obtain delay-Doppler radar images of the full disk of Mercury. Anomalously bright features were found at the north and south poles. The north polar feature is oblong (4 degrees by 8 degrees ) and offset from the pole. The smaller south polar feature is mostly confined to the floor of the crater Chao Meng-Fu. The polar locations and radar properties of these features indicate that they may be produced by volume scattering in ice. The images also reveal a variety of more subdued reflectivity features ranging in size from hundreds to thousands of kilometers; some of these appear to have an impact origin.     

Global distribution of neutrons from Mars: results from Mars odyssey

Global distributions of thermal, epithermal, and fast neutron fluxes have been mapped during late southern summer/northern winter using the Mars Odyssey Neutron Spectrometer. These fluxes are selectively sensitive to the vertical and lateral spatial distributions of H and CO2 in the uppermost meter of the martian surface. Poleward of +/-60 degrees latitude is terrain rich in hydrogen, probably H2O ice buried beneath tens of centimeter-thick hydrogen-poor soil. The central portion of the north polar cap is covered by a thick CO2 layer, as is the residual south polar cap. Portions of the low to middle latitudes indicate subsurface deposits of chemically and/or physically bound H2O and/or OH.     

Mars ice caps

Minimum atmospheric temperatures required to prevent CO(2) condensatio in the Mars polar caps are higher than those obtained in a computer experiment to simulate the general circulation of the Mars atmosphere. This observation supports the view that the polar caps are predominantly solid CO(2). However, thin clouds of H(2)0 ice could substantially reduce the surface condensation rate.     

Spectral reflectivity of Mars

Analysis of data on the spectral reflectivity curves for both bright and dark areas of Mars disclosed several features not considered in previous models of the martian surface. The shape of the mean spectral geometric albedo curve between 0.3 and about 1.3 microns for Mars is defined to within a few percent. Spectral reflectivity curves based on relative reflectivity data were calculated for both a bright and a dark region between 0.4 and 1.1 microns. The curve for the dark region shows a broad, deep ( approximately 13 percent) absorption feature centered near 1 micron. The curve for the dark area crosses that of the bright area between 0.4 and 0.5 micron during some martian seasons.     

Morphology and composition of the surface of Mars: Mars Odyssey THEMIS results

The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) on Mars Odyssey has produced infrared to visible wavelength images of the martian surface that show lithologically distinct layers with variable thickness, implying temporal changes in the processes or environments during or after their formation. Kilometer-scale exposures of bedrock are observed; elsewhere airfall dust completely mantles the surface over thousands of square kilometers. Mars has compositional variations at 100-meter scales, for example, an exposure of olivine-rich basalt in the walls of Ganges Chasma. Thermally distinct ejecta facies occur around some craters with variations associated with crater age. Polar observations have identified temporal patches of water frost in the north polar cap. No thermal signatures associated with endogenic heat sources have been identified.     

Climatic change on Mars

The equatorial sinuous channels on Mars detected by Mariner 9 point to a past epoch of higher pressures and abundant liquid water. Advective instability of the martian atmosphere permits two stable climates-one close to present conditions, the other at a pressure of the order of 1 bar depending on the quantity of buried volatiles. Variations in the obliquity of Mars, the luminosity of the sun, and the albedo of the polar caps each appear capable of driving the instability between a current ice age and more clement conditions. Obliquity driving alone implies that epochs of much higher and of much lower pressure must have characterized martian history. Climatic change on Mars may have important meteorological, geological, and biological implications.     

Mars: upper atmosphere

The thermal structure of the upper atmosphere of Mars has been theoretically investigated. The exospheric temperature, for a pure CO(2) model atmosphere, lies between 400 degrees and 700 degrees K. The origin of the Martian atmosphere is discussed in the light of these results.