Planetary Science and Technology

行星科技

基本信息

批准号：
ST/I001948/1
负责人：
Peter Read
金额：
$ 155.13万
依托单位：
University of Oxford
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2011
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2011 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ST%2FI001948%2F1
关键词：
Planetary Science Technology

项目摘要

This proposal covers a wide range of coordinated research and technology development aimed at improving our understanding of the evolution, interaction and the current behaviour of the atmospheres and surfaces of planetary bodies in the solar system. This understanding permits an intercomparison between the planets and the Earth that will enhance our understanding of our own planet and its climate. Recent technology developments have concentrated on miniaturisation of radiometers and spectrometers which are now mature and we are turning our attention towards improving the measurement sensitivity by developing cooling technologies to allow us to use more sensitive detectors. This is an area where we have had success in the past but we now need lower mass long-life devices suitable for planetary missions. The Diviner Lunar Radiometer, launched last year, is now returning detailed thermal infrared maps of the lunar surface for the first time measuring the full range of lunar temperatures (>400K to <50K). However, matching the measured temperature variations to those derived by 3D thermal models of the surfaces requires detailed laboratory measurements to be made of minerals under conditions that are as lunar like as possible. Two new sets of lab data in particular are needed, mineral thermal emission spectra and measurements of the light scattering properties of minerals and mixtures. The CIRS instrument on the Cassini spacecraft continues to return excellent observations of the surfaces of Saturn's moons and we propose to use these observations to investigate the endogenic heat flow through these surfaces and the surface composition to determine how these bodies interact. In particular these measurements will help constrain the possible mechanisms causing the geyser seen at Enceladus' south pole, and whether these imply the presence of liquid water. Cassini CIRS observations of the atmospheres of Saturn and Titan have greatly improved our understanding of these worlds. Their north polar regions have been in darkness for the last 15 years, but sunlight has returned and dramatic and rapid changes are expected in the atmospheric circulation patterns of both. These high polar regions are very difficult to view from the Earth at this season so Cassini offers a unique, ringside seat to observe the expected fascinating changes, which will be used to constrain dynamical models of these atmospheres. We propose to make new ground-based observations of Uranus and Neptune to track seasonal changes, especially on Uranus, which passed through its northern spring equinox in 2007. In addition, we plan to continue our programme of observations of Jupiter and Saturn to understand better transient changes, the interaction of eddies and provide contextual information for our Cassini CIRS Saturn observations. We have recently developed models for the gas giant planets, based on the UK Met Office climate model for Earth, that can simulate the atmospheric circulation in the cloudy 'weather layers' on both Jupiter and Saturn, including direct representations of cloud formation and transport. These models will be extended to global coverage to investigate nonlinear turbulent mechanisms for the spontaneous formation of zonally banded jets and clouds. These will form some of the most realistic simulations of these atmospheres so far obtained, and will be evaluated by direct comparisons with the observations discussed above from Cassini CIRS. We plan to upgrade our Mars climate model with the help of our collaborators in Paris and the Open University to improve the representation of dust lifting and transport, the hydrological cycle and sub-surface volatile reservoirs to enable processes linking these cycles to be investigated. We will also make available a newly completed assimilated record of Mars weather from the Mars Global Surveyor mission and extend this record using data from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

该建议涵盖了广泛的协调研究和技术开发，旨在提高我们对太阳系中行星体大气和表面的演变，相互作用以及当前行为的理解。这种理解允许行星与地球之间的比较，从而增强我们对自己星球及其气候的理解。最近的技术发展集中在辐射仪和光谱仪的微型化上，这些辐射仪和光谱仪现在已经成熟，我们正在通过开发冷却技术来使我们的注意力转向提高测量灵敏度，从而使我们能够使用更敏感的探测器。这是我们过去取得成功的领域，但现在我们需要较低的质量长寿命设备，适合行星任务。去年推出的Diviner Lunar辐射计现在首次返回月球表面的详细热红外地图，测量了月球温度的全部范围（> 400k至<50k）。但是，将测得的温度变化与表面的3D热模型得出的温度变化匹配，需要在尽可能月可能的条件下对矿物进行详细的实验室测量。特别是需要两组新的实验室数据，即矿物热发射光谱以及矿物质和混合物的光散射特性的测量。 Cassini航天器上的CIRS仪器继续返回对土星卫星表面的出色观察结果，我们建议使用这些观测值来研究通过这些表面和表面组成的内生热流，以确定这些身体的相互作用。特别是这些测量结果将有助于限制导致地塔斯南极看到的间歇泉的可能机制，以及这些是否意味着液态水的存在。 Cassini CIRS对土星和泰坦气氛的观察极大地改善了我们对这些世界的理解。在过去的15年中，它们的北极地区一直处于黑暗状态，但是阳光已经恢复，并且在两者的大气循环模式中预计会发生巨大变化。在这个季节，这些高极区域很难从地球上看到，因此卡西尼提供了独特的马戏团座椅来观察预期的引人入胜的变化，这将用于限制这些大气的动态模型。我们建议对天王星和海王星进行新的基于地面的观察，以跟踪季节性的变化，尤其是在2007年通过其北春季Equinox的天王星。此外，我们计划继续对木星和土星的观察计划，以了解更好的短暂变化，并了解更好的涡流，并为我们的Cassini Cirs Cirs Saturn Isspersivess提供上下文信息。我们最近根据英国大都会办公室的气候模型开发了天然气巨型行星的模型，该模型可以模拟木星和土星在云层“天气层”中的大气循环，包括云形成和运输的直接表示。这些模型将扩展到全局覆盖范围，以研究为划定带状喷射和云的自发形成的非线性湍流机制。这些将构成迄今为止获得的这些大气的一些最现实的模拟，并通过与Cassini CIRS讨论的观测值进行直接比较来评估。我们计划在巴黎和开放大学的合作者的帮助下升级火星气候模型，以改善灰尘升起和运输的表示，水文周期和地下挥发性储层，以启用链接这些周期的过程。我们还将提供来自火星全球测量师任务的新近完成的MARS天气记录，并使用火星侦察轨道的数据扩展此记录。