Planetary Science and Technology

这项建议包括广泛的协调研究和技术开发，旨在提高我们对太阳系行星体大气层和表面的演变、相互作用和当前行为的认识。这种理解允许行星和地球之间的相互比较，这将加强我们对我们自己的星球及其气候的理解。最近的技术发展集中在辐射计和光谱仪的自动化上，现在已经成熟，我们正在将注意力转向通过开发冷却技术来提高测量灵敏度，以使我们能够使用更灵敏的探测器。这是我们过去取得成功的一个领域，但我们现在需要适合行星任务的低质量长寿命设备。去年发射的Diviner月球辐射计现在正在返回月球表面的详细热红外地图，这是第一次测量月球温度的全部范围（> 400 K到<50 K）。然而，将测量的温度变化与表面3D热模型得出的温度变化相匹配，需要在尽可能类似月球的条件下对矿物进行详细的实验室测量。特别需要两组新的实验室数据，矿物热发射光谱和矿物和混合物的光散射特性的测量。卡西尼号飞船上的CIRS仪器继续返回土星卫星表面的良好观测，我们建议使用这些观测来研究通过这些表面的内生热流和表面组成，以确定这些机构如何相互作用。特别是这些测量将有助于限制可能的机制，导致在土卫二的南极看到间歇泉，以及这些是否意味着液态水的存在。卡西尼CIRS对土星和土卫六大气层的观测大大提高了我们对这些世界的了解。在过去的15年里，它们的北极地区一直处于黑暗之中，但阳光已经恢复，预计两者的大气环流模式将发生戏剧性的快速变化。在这个季节，从地球上很难看到这些高极区，因此卡西尼号提供了一个独特的环形座位来观察预期的迷人变化，这些变化将用于约束这些大气的动力学模型。我们建议对天王星和海王星进行新的地面观测，以跟踪季节变化，特别是在2007年经历北方春分的天王星上。此外，我们计划继续我们的木星和土星观测方案，以更好地了解瞬态变化，涡流的相互作用，并为我们的卡西尼CIRS土星观测提供背景信息。我们最近开发了气体巨行星的模型，基于英国气象局的地球气候模型，可以模拟木星和土星上多云“天气层”的大气环流，包括云的形成和运输的直接表示。这些模式将扩展到全球范围，以研究带状急流和云自发形成的非线性湍流机制。这些将形成迄今为止获得的这些大气层的一些最真实的模拟，并将通过与卡西尼CIRS上面讨论的观测结果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我们的火星气候模型，以改善尘埃抬升和运输、水文循环和地表下挥发性水库的代表性，从而能够研究将这些循环联系起来的过程。我们还将提供一份新完成的火星全球探测者使命的火星天气同化记录，并利用火星侦察轨道器的数据扩展这一记录。

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.