Mars submillimeter sensor on microsatellite: sensor feasibility study

Abstract

We present a feasibility study for a submillimeter instrument on a small Mars platform now under construction. The sensor will measure the emission from atmospheric molecular oxygen, water, ozone, and hydrogen peroxide in order to retrieve their volume mixing ratios and the changes therein over time. In addition to these, the instrument will be able to limit the crustal magnetic field, and retrieve temperature and wind speed with various degrees of precision and resolution. The expected measurement precision before spatial and temporal averaging is 15 to 25 ppmv for the molecular oxygen mixing ratio, 0.2 ppmv for the gaseous water mixing ratio, 2 ppbv for the hydrogen peroxide mixing ratio, 2 ppbv for the ozone mixing ratio, 1.5 to 2.5 µT for the magnetic field strength, 1.5 to 2.5 K for the temperature profile, and 20 to 25 m s−1 for the horizontal wind speed.