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T. Encrenaz, R. Melchiorri, T. Fouchet, P. Drossart, E. Lellouch (LESIA, Paris Obs., France), B. Gondet, J.-P. Bibring, Y. Langevin (IAS, Orsay, France), D. Titov (MPI, Lindau, Germany), N. Ignatiev (IKI, Moscow, Russia), F. Forget (LMD, Paris, France)
The OMEGA imaging spectrometer aboard the Mars Express orbiter has been used to map the water vapor abundance over the martian surface, from the analysis of the 2.6-micron band of H2O. The study of this band, in the reflected sunlight range, allows a determination of the water vapor abundance which is, to first order, independent of the temperature profile. As a first result of this study, we present water vapor maps in the northern hemisphere at the time of the norther polar cap sublimation (Ls = 90-115 deg.),when the water vapor column density is maximum. Our measurements are compared with previous results by MAWD/Viking and TES/MGS. The authors acknowledge support from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and from the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES).
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 37 #3
© 2004. The American Astronomical Soceity.