NSF/AFOSR Astronomy: Spatial and Temporal Variations in the Atmospheric Aerosol Content of Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn

土星，木星和火星大气层内的时间变化将通过使用AEOS 3.67米自适应光学望远镜正在进行的高空间分辨率图像收集计划进行研究。窄带通滤波器，这是优化的高度歧视在巨大的行星大气层，和过滤器已经提供的AEOS仪器，将被用来区分气溶胶在所有三个行星的大气层和研究火星表面的反射特性。目前环绕火星的航天器每天都提供整个行星的太阳同步视图，但在大多数位置不提供时间信息。AEOS图像是在设施正常运行期间的短时间内收集的，将能够确定一天中不同时间的变化的重要性，这些变化表现为表面灰尘上升和/或对流灰尘飘向风速大的高海拔地区。这补充了轨道器提供的有限的全球视野。对巨行星大气层的长时间轴监测，特别是其气溶胶分布，将有助于更好地了解这些大气层的动态。由于土星上大风暴事件的季节性驱动，在南夏至附近的这段时间内进行监测（土星上最近的对流风暴发生在北方夏至附近）可能会提供“预测”能力，如果未来几年发生任何风暴事件。长时间的覆盖将使研究人员能够回顾数据集，并搜索土星大气中对流活动的先前未被识别的前兆特征。

Time variability within the atmospheres of Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars will be investigated via an ongoing high spatial resolution image collection program employing the AEOS 3.67-meter adaptive optics telescope. Narrow bandpass filters, which are optimized for altitude discrimination in the giant planet atmospheres, and filters already available with the AEOS instrument, will be utilized to discriminate aerosols in all three planetary atmospheres and study surface reflectance characteristics on Mars. Current spacecraft orbiting Mars provide a sun-synchronous view of the entire planet each day, but do not provide time-of-day information at most locations. The AEOS images, collected within short windows of opportunity amongst the normal operations of the facility, will enable the determination of the importance of time-of-day variations as manifested by surface dust lifting and/or convective dust lofting to high altitudes where wind speeds are large. This complements the limited time-of-day global view provided by the orbiters. Long timeline monitoring of the giant planet atmospheres, specifically their aerosol distribution, will assist in better understanding the dynamics of these atmospheres. With the suspected seasonal driving of large storm events on Saturn, monitoring during this time period near southern summer solstice (the most recent convective storm on Saturn occurred near northern summer solstice) might provide a 'forecast' capability, should any storm event occur in the next several years. Long temporal coverage will enable the investigators to look back into the data set and search for previously unrecognized precursor signatures of convective activity in Saturn's atmosphere.