Related papers: Mars surface phase function constrained by orbital…
Soil assessment is important for mobile robot planning and navigation on natural and planetary environments. Terramechanic characteristics can be inferred from the thermal behaviour of soils under the influence of sunlight using remote…
Small-crater counts on Mars light-toned sedimentary rock are often inconsistent with any isochron; these data are usually plotted then ignored. We show (using an 18-HiRISE-image, >10^4 crater dataset) that these non-isochron crater counts…
The time evolution of atmospheric dust at high southern latitudes on Mars has been determined using observations of the south seasonal cap acquired in the near infrared (1-2.65 {\mu}m) by OMEGA/Mars Express in 2005. Observations at…
The energy balance and climate of planets can be affected by the reflective properties of their land, ocean, and frozen surfaces. Here we investigate the effect of host star spectral energy distribution (SED) on the albedo of these surfaces…
Over the past decades, global geodynamical models have been used to investigate the thermal evolution of terrestrial planets. With the increase of computational power and improvement of numerical techniques, these models have become more…
Light curves show the flux variation from the target star and its orbiting planets as a function of time. In addition to the transit features created by the planets, the flux also includes the reflected light component of each planet, which…
We report on mapping of the south polar region of Mars using data from the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) instrument. Our observations have led to the following discoveries: 1. Water ice is present in the form…
M-stars comprise 80% of main-sequence stars, and so their planetary systems provide the best chance for finding habitable planets, i.e.: those with surface liquid water. We have modelled the broadband albedo or reflectivity of water ice and…
Multi-band phase variations in principle allow us to infer the longitudinal temperature distributions of planets as a function of height in their atmospheres. For example, 3.6 micron emission originates from deeper layers of the atmosphere…
A new model has been developed to estimate the dielectric constant of the lunar surface using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data. Continuous investigation on the dielectric constant of the lunar surface is a high priority task due to…
For the past several decades, numerous attempts have been made to model the climate of Mars with extensive studies focusing on the planet's dynamics and the understanding of its climate. While physical modeling and data assimilation…
We are using computer models to explore the observational sensitivity to changes in atmospheric and surface properties, and the detectability of biosignatures, in the globally averaged spectra and light-curves of the Earth. Using AIRS…
Accurate retrieval of surface solar radiation (SSR) from satellite imagery critically depends on estimating the background reflectance that a spaceborne sensor would observe under clear-sky conditions. Deviations from this baseline can then…
Future missions like Roman, HabEx, and LUVOIR will directly image exoplanets in reflected light. While current near infrared direct imaging searches are only sensitive to young, self-luminous planets whose brightness is independent of their…
The Visible InfraRed (VIR) mapping spectrometer onboard Dawn mission has obtained the spatial distribution of the spectral reflectance of Vesta in the wavelength ranges between 0.25-1.07 micrometers and 0.95-5.1 micrometers. A photometric…
The illuminated dusty surface of Mars acts like a gas pump. It is driven by thermal creep at low pressure within the soil. In the top soil layer this gas flow has to be sustained by a pressure gradient. This is equivalent to a lifting force…
The MERTIS (MErcury Radiometer and Thermal Infrared Spectrometer) instrument onboard the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission will provide mid-infrared data, which will be crucial to characterize the surface mineralogy of Mercury. In order to…
The search for ephemeral liquid water on Mars is an ongoing activity. After the recession of the seasonal polar ice cap on Mars, small water ice patches may be left behind in shady places due to the low thermal conductivity of the Martian…
We use the Mars Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (MRAMS) to simulate lake storms on Mars, finding that intense localized precipitation will occur for lake size >=10^3 km^2. Mars has a low-density atmosphere, so deep convection can be…
Airborne dust plays an active role in determining the thermal structure and chemical composition of the present-day atmosphere of Mars and possibly the planet's climate evolution over time through radiative--convective and cloud…