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[14.06] Peeking Through the Picket Fence: Observing Mars Ozone from the Earth

K. E. Fast, T. Kostiuk (GSFC), G. Sonnabend (NAS/NRC/GSFC), T. Livengood (Challenger Ctr.), F. Espenak, J. Annen (GSFC), M. F. A'Hearn, T. Hewagama (UMd)

Infrared heterodyne spectroscopy at ~9.6~\mum has been used at Mars apparitions from 1988 through 2003 to measure fully-resolved lineshapes of Mars atmospheric ozone features at a resolving power of 1-5\times 10⁶. Ozone is an important tracer of the photochemical processes responsible for the stability of Mars’ CO₂ atmosphere. Telluric ozone lines form a picket-fence screening ozone features in astronomical observations of other atmospheres; with sufficient spectral resolving power, however, it is possible to peek through the gaps in the fence. Terrestrial ozone features seen in absorption against thermal emission by the Moon constrain models for the terrestrial ozone and temperature profiles so that the transmission function that filters Doppler-shifted spectra of Mars O₃ and CO₂ features can be corrected, providing detailed information on the atmospheric chemistry of two terrestrial planets at once. We will present observed spectra of Mars and Earth ozone features obtained at the NASA/IRTF along with the analytical process to eliminate the telluric ozone picket fence from Mars observations.

This work was supported by the NASA Planetary Astronomy Program.

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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 35 #4
© 2003. The American Astronomical Soceity.