Infrared Thermal Mapping of the Martian Surface and Atmosphere: First Results

• Published in: Science
• Main Authors: Kieffer, Hugh H., Chase, Stillman C., Jr., Miner, Ellis D., Palluconi, Frank Don, Münch, Guido, Neugebauer, Gerry, Martin, Terry Z.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science 1976
• Subjects: The Landing; polar night
• Online Access: https://authors.library.caltech.edu/74568/; https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20170227-162205245

The Viking infrared thermal mapper measures the thermal emission of the martian surface and atmosphere and the total reflected sunlight. With the high resolution and dense coverage being achieved, planetwide thermal structure is apparent at large and small scales. The thermal behavior of the best-observed areas, the landing sites, cannot be explained by simple homogeneous models. The data contain clear indications for the relevance of additional factors such as detailed surface texture and the occurrence of clouds. Areas in the polar night have temperatures distinctly lower than the CO_2 condensation point at the surface pressure. This observation implies that the annual atmospheric condensation is less than previously assumed and that either thick CO_2 clouds exist at the 20-kilometer level or that the polar atmosphere is locally enriched by noncondensable gases.