The Planetary Fourier Spectrometer (PFS) onboard the European Mars Express mission
Vittorio Formisano
(1)
,
Francesco Angrilli
(2)
,
Gabriele Arnold
(3)
,
Sushil K. Atreya
(4)
,
G. Bianchini
(2)
,
D. Biondi
(1)
,
A. Blanco
(5)
,
M. I. Blecka
(6)
,
Angioletta Coradini
(1)
,
Luigi Colangeli
(7)
,
A. P. Ekonomov
(8)
,
Francesca Esposito
(7)
,
Sergio Fonti
(5)
,
Marco Giuranna
(1)
,
Davide Grassi
(1, 9, 10)
,
V. N. Gnedykh
(8)
,
A. Grigoriev
(8)
,
Gary B. Hansen
(11)
,
H. Hirsh
(3)
,
Igor V. Khatuntsev
(8)
,
A. Kiselev
(8)
,
Nikolai Ignatiev
(1, 8)
,
A. Jurewicz
(6)
,
Emmanuel Lellouch
(9, 10)
,
José J. López-Moreno
(12)
,
André Marten
(9, 10)
,
A. Mattana
(1)
,
A. Maturilli
(1)
,
E. Mencarelli
(1)
,
M. Michalska
(6)
,
Vassili Moroz
(8)
,
B. E. Moshkin
(8)
,
F. Nespoli
(1)
,
Yu. V. Nikolsky
(8)
,
Renato Orfei
(1)
,
Piotr Orleanski
(6)
,
Vincenzo Orofino
(4)
,
Ernesto Palomba
(7)
,
D. V. Patsaev
(8)
,
Giuseppe Piccioni
(13)
,
Mirek Rataj
(6)
,
Rafael Rodrigo
(12)
,
J. Rodríguez
(12)
,
M. Rossi
(1)
,
B. Saggin
(14)
,
Dmitry V. Titov
(8)
,
Ludmilla Zasova
(1, 8)
1
IFSI -
Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario
2 Unipd - Università degli Studi di Padova = University of Padua
3 Institute for Planetary Exploration, Deutsches Zentrum for Luft und Raumfahrt
4 Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences, University of Michigan
5 Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Lecce
6 CBK - Space Research Centre of Polish Academy of Sciences
7 INAF-OAC - INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte
8 IKI/RAN - Institute of Space Research, Russian Academy of Science
9 LESIA - Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique
10 Pôle Planétologie du LESIA
11 Planetary Science Institute, Pacific Northwest Division, Department of Earth and Space Science, seattle
12 IAA - Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía
13 IASF-Roma - Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica
14 POLIMI - Politecnico di Milano [Milan]
2 Unipd - Università degli Studi di Padova = University of Padua
3 Institute for Planetary Exploration, Deutsches Zentrum for Luft und Raumfahrt
4 Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences, University of Michigan
5 Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Lecce
6 CBK - Space Research Centre of Polish Academy of Sciences
7 INAF-OAC - INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte
8 IKI/RAN - Institute of Space Research, Russian Academy of Science
9 LESIA - Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique
10 Pôle Planétologie du LESIA
11 Planetary Science Institute, Pacific Northwest Division, Department of Earth and Space Science, seattle
12 IAA - Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía
13 IASF-Roma - Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica
14 POLIMI - Politecnico di Milano [Milan]
Résumé
The Planetary Fourier Spectrometer (PFS) for the Mars Express mission is an infrared spectrometer optimised for atmospheric studies. This instrument has a short wave (SW) channel that covers the spectral range from 1700 to 8200.0cm-1 (1.2- 5.5mum) and a long-wave (LW) channel that covers 250- 1700cm-1 (5.5- 45mum). Both channels have a uniform spectral resolution of 1.3cm-1. The instrument field of view FOV is about 1.6o (FWHM) for the Short Wavelength channel (SW) and 2.8o (FWHM) for the Long Wavelength channel (LW) which corresponds to a spatial resolution of 7 and 12 km when Mars is observed from an height of 250 km. PFS can provide unique data necessary to improve our knowledge not only of the atmosphere properties but also about mineralogical composition of the surface and the surface-atmosphere interaction. The SW channel uses a PbSe detector cooled to 200-220 K while the LW channel is based on a pyroelectric ( LiTaO3) detector working at room temperature. The intensity of the interferogram is measured every 150 nm of physical mirrors displacement, corresponding to 600 nm optical path difference, by using a laser diode monochromatic light interferogram (a sine wave), whose zero crossings control the double pendulum motion. PFS works primarily around the pericentre of the orbit, only occasionally observing Mars from large distances. Each measurements take 4 s, with a repetition time of 8.5 s. By working roughly 0.6 h around pericentre, a total of 330 measurements per orbit will be acquired 270 looking at Mars and 60 for calibrations. PFS is able to take measurements at all local times, facilitating the retrieval of surface temperatures and atmospheric vertical temperature profiles on both the day and the night side.