Contents of: VI/111/./abstract/JBELL_MARS_CAM.abs

The following document lists the file abstract/JBELL_MARS_CAM.abs from catalogue VI/111.
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   We propose to use ISOCAM in CAM04 CVF mode to observe Mars from 2.273
 to 5.122 microns.  Our primary scientific goals are: (1) To detect and
 spatially map absorption features arising from minerals on the martian
 surface or in the airborne dust.  Specifically, we will search for and
 attempt to spatially map phyllosilicates and other hydrated minerals,
 pyroxenes, olivines, carbonates, sulfates, and organic (C-H bearing)
 materials.  Many of these materials have been shown to exist on Mars
 based on KAO and SNC meteorite data, but information on their spatial
 distribution is lacking.  For certain minerals like carbonates, spatial
 mapping can provide important information about the climatic history
 of Mars.  (2) To detect and monitor variations in the spatial and
 temporal airborne dust opacity and the abundance and distribution of
 water ice and CO2 ice clouds in the martian atmosphere.  These
 observations will help constrain the seasonal cycles of volatile
 transport on Mars by defining the style and timing of the north-south
 atmospheric condensation flow.  An accurate knowledge of the seasonal
 behavior of clouds and surface frosts/ices, especially at the poles, is
 critical for understanding the global energy balance. (3) To provide
 imaging and spectroscopic data for the planning and implementation of
 the NASA Mars Pathfinder Lander mission in 1997.
    ISO is optimal for these observations because it provides the
 opportunity to unambiguously observe martian mineral, H2O ice, and CO2
 ice absorptions without interference from telluric lines.
    The goals of this proposed program are very different from those of
 the Mars GT program of de Graauw et al.  We stress mineralogic
 measurements and atmospheric ice and dust cloud detection and mapping;
 de Graauw et al. stress spectroscopy of trace atmospheric components.
 We believe there is little redundancy and in fact a high degree of
 complementarity between our proposed program and the Mars GT program.