ESA’s ExoMars program comprises two missions including the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), launched in 2016, and a rover and surface platform, to be launched in 2022. The main scientific objectives of the program are to investigate the Martian environment and climate and search for past or present signs of life. For this purpose, a suite of three infrared spectrometers for remote sensing (Atmospheric Chemistry Suite, ACS) is in use on TGO. One of these instruments is a Fourier transform spectrometer, TIRVIM (Thermal IR V-shape Interferometer Mounting in honor of Vassili Ivanovich Moroz), operating in nadir, limb or solar occultation mode between 1.7 and 17 μm. On ExoMars22’s surface platform the spectrometer FAST (Fourier for Atmospheric Species and Temperature) will study the atmosphere and surface at the landing site in the same wavelength range as TIRVIM on TGO. This paper presents the objectives of TIRVIM and FAST. It summarizes selected results of the determination of temperature profiles and dust content in the lower atmosphere of Mars based on radiative transfer modeling of TIRVIM data. Synergetic analyses of TIRVIM spectra and InSight (NASA) in situ measurements of temperature and pressure at InSight’s landing site in Elysium Planitia enable improvements of procedures to retrieve parameters from TIRVIM observations. First results on surface temperature obtained from these different data sets together with the measurements to be expected in the future from FAST offer a unique opportunity to compare in situ and IR remote sensing measurements.
Infrared Fourier-transform spectrometers (FTIR) onboard of the planetary missions are commonly used for the thermal sounding of the atmosphere and retrieval of aerosol profiles. To derive a calibrated spectrum of the target source, one needs three separate measurements: the target source itself and two calibration measurements of sources with known emissivity and temperature. An overview of the design of a compact in-built calibration source (a blackbody) emitting at 210-330 K for a spaceborne FTIR instrument is presented. Mechanically it is an aluminum structure matching the aperture of the instrument. The emissivity depends on its surface relief and finish. Four different types of surface shape are considered. The best-achieved emissivity is better than 0.99 (at 15 μm). The optimal placement of heaters allowing for minimal thermal non-uniformity (0.1 K) across the aperture is found. The accuracy of the thermal control is also ~0.1 K. We discuss the thermal control system and its characteristics (accuracy and drift). The proposed design accounts for a minimum mass applicable to the space instrumentation. For a one-inch aperture, the mass is 0.12 kg. The expected accuracy of the instrument calibrated with the designed blackbody is estimated.
An interferometer is an essential subsystem of the Fourier-transform spectrometer (FTS). We describe an FTS instrument to operate at the surface of Mars based on a Michelson interferometer with hollow retroreflectors. The instrument will operate in two different regimes, observing the solar disc through the atmosphere to measure trace gases, and measuring the thermal emission from the atmosphere to study the planetary boundary layer (PBL). The interferometer has an aperture of 1 inch, operates in the spectral range 1.7-17 μm, and features low mass and volume (≤1 kg with all necessary subsystems). Beam splitter and compensator are made of potassium bromide (KBr). A single-axis robot with stepper motor drive provides a linear movement of the retroreflector (the speed stability is about 2%) and enables a maximal optical path difference (MOPD) of 15 cm. A reference channel with a distributed-feedback laser diode (0.76 μm) and a photodiode (Si) supports the interferogram sampling and the speed stabilization loop. The time to measure one interferogram with a best spectral resolution of about 0.05 cm–1 is 500 s (the sun tracking regime). In the thermal sounding regime, one measurement of a two-side interferogram (with the spectral resolution of ~1 cm–1) takes less than 1 min. Laboratory calibrations with a black body and a laser confirm the design parameters of the instrument.
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