Studying the Structure and Composition of the Atmosphere of Mars by High-Resolution Infrared Heterodyne Spectroscopy

了解行星大气的物理过程对于发展大气环流模式和长期气候预测是必不可少的。除了地球之外，这对类地行星，尤其是火星和金星来说，也是非常有趣的。对所用模式中的一些关键参数，如风速、温度、分子丰度或压力进行模拟，可以对包括大气化学在内的大气行为进行详细的预测。高光谱分辨率红外外差光谱是行星大气遥感的理想工具。与微波观测相比，除了高光谱分辨率外，还可以很容易地获得足够的空间分辨率。从完全分解的分子谱线可以直接推算出发射气体和吸收气体的速度、温度或丰度。特别是在火星的情况下，由于几次太空任务的数据，大气模型在过去几年里有了很大的改进。然而，这些数据是选择性的，而且来自火星的有限海拔地区。来自其他（主要是较高）大气区域的额外观测对于约束和验证模式以及支持对低分辨率数据的解释是必要的。外差测量可以提供额外的信息，如高层大气风或垂直气体丰度剖面，从而提高对火星大气的了解，同时，将火星视为系外行星的原型。拟议的工作还将包括专门针对儿童的教育和公共宣传工作。

Understanding of the physical processes in planetary atmospheres is essential for the development of general circulation models (GCM) and for longterm climate predictions. Besides the Earth, this is of high interest especially for the terrestrial planets Mars and Venus. Simulation of a number of key parameters in the used models like wind velocity, temperature, molecular abundances or pressure leads to a detailed prediction of the atmospheric behaviour including atmospheric chemistry. An ideal tool for remote sensing of planetary atmospheres is high spectral resolution infrared heterodyne spectroscopy. In contrast to microwave observations an adequate spatial resolution can be achieved easily in addition to the high spectral resolution. From fully resolved molecular lines velocity, temperature or abundance of the emitting and absorbing gas can be directly deduced. Especially in the case of Mars, atmospheric models have improved substantially over the last years due to data from several space missions. Nevertheless these data are selective and from limited altitude regions of Mars. Additional observations from other (mostly higher) atmospheric regions are necessary to constrain and validate models and support the interpretation of lower resolution data. Heterodyne measurements can provide complimentary information like upper atmosphere winds or vertical gas abundance profiles thus leading to an improved understanding of the Martian atmosphere including, on the side, a look at Mars as an exo-planet prototype. The proposed work will also include efforts in education and public outreach specifically aimed at children.