Emirates Mars Mission Characterization of Mars Atmosphere Dynamics and Processes

Abstract

The Emirates Mars Mission (EMM) – Hope Probe – was developed to understand Mars atmospheric circulation, dynamics, and processes through characterization of the Mars atmosphere layers and its interconnections enabled by a unique high-altitude (19,970 km periapse and 42,650 km apoapse) low inclination orbit that will offer an unprecedented local and seasonal time coverage over most of the planet. EMM has three scientific objectives to (A) characterize the state of the Martian lower atmosphere on global scales and its geographic, diurnal and seasonal variability, (B) correlate rates of thermal and photochemical atmospheric escape with conditions in the collisional Martian atmosphere, and (C) characterize the spatial structure and variability of key constituents in the Martian exosphere. The EMM data products include a variety of spectral and imaging data from three scientific instruments measuring Mars at visible, ultraviolet, and infrared wavelengths and contemporaneously and globally sampled on both diurnal and seasonal timescale. Here, we describe our strategies for addressing each objective with these data in addition to the complementary science data, tools, and physical models that will facilitate our understanding. The results will also fill a unique role by providing diagnostics of the physical processes driving atmospheric structure and dynamics, the connections between the lower and upper atmospheres, and the influences of these on atmospheric escape.

The Emirates Mars Mission

“…These objectives, addressing the lower atmosphere, connections between the lower and upper atmosphere, and the upper atmosphere, guide the science investigations that EMM will complete, as well as requirements on the instruments and mission. Each objective is presented briefly below, and discussed more thoroughly in the companion paper by Almatroushi et al (2021).…”

“…8 Mapping of the analyses for the EMM science objectives to the required EMM data, and other data, tools, and physical models maps the data, tools, and physical models required for each analysis. A detailed description of EMM science analysis plans designed to satisfy (close) the mission's science objectives can be found in the companion paper by Almatroushi et al (2021).…”

Combined Analysis of Hydrogen and Oxygen 102.6 nm Emission at Mars

“…The Emirates Mars Ultraviolet Spectrometer (EMUS) is a far‐ultraviolet spectrograph designed for remote sensing of the upper atmosphere and corona (Holsclaw et al., 2021) as a part of the Emirates Mars Mission (EMM) (Almatroushi et al., 2021; Amiri et al., 2022). A key design requirement of this instrument was sensitivity to H Lyman beta in order to improve understanding of the optically thick H corona.…”

Emirates Mars Ultraviolet Spectrometer's (EMUS) Observation of Argon in the Martian Thermosphere

“…Emirates Mars Mission (EMM), the first interplanetary mission developed by the United Arab Emirates Mission, launched to Space on 20 July 2020, achieved a successful Mars Orbit Insertion (MOI) on 9 February 2021 and commenced its science phase on 23 May 2021. EMM is designed to explore the dynamics of the Martian atmospheric layers on a global scale, simultaneously sampling diurnal, and seasonal timescales (Almatroushi et al., 2021; Amiri et al., 2022). On board the EMM's spacecraft “Hope Probe” are three scientific instruments designed to study these different layers: (a) Emirates eXploration Image (EXI) (Jones et al., 2021) (b) Emirates Infrared Spectrometer (EMIRS) (Edwards et al., 2021) and (c) Emirates Mars Ultraviolet Spectrometer (EMUS) (Holsclaw et al., 2021).…”