The Atmosphere and Surface of Mars as Revealed by the Emirates Mars Infrared Spectrometer (EMIRS)

The Emirates Mars Mission (EMM) Emirates Mars Infrared Spectrometer (EMIRS) currently around Mars is acquiring remote measurements of the martian surface (temperature and composition) and lower atmosphere. EMIRS is a FTIR spectrometer covering the range from 6.0-100 µm (1666-100 cm^‑1) with a spectral sampling as high as 5 cm^-1 with a 5.4-mrad IFOV. The EMIRS optical path includes a flat 45˚ pointing mirror to enable one degree of freedom while the spacecraft provides the other to build up a 2-dimensional array of observations. The primary goals of EMIRS are to characterize the geographic and diurnal variability of key atmospheric constituents (water ice, water vapor, and dust) along with temperature profiles and surface temperature on sub-seasonal timescales

EMIRS acquires data of the full martian disk and thus provides an integrated view of the martian surface and atmosphere in every spectrum. These observations include complete diurnal, seasonal, and geographic coverage of atmospheric properties, surface temperature, and also surface composition/mineralogy at wavelengths not regularly acquired of the martian surface. Due to the unique nature of the EMM orbit, EMIRS also collects data that spans the full local solar time range (all solar incidence angles), at multiple emission angles. These unique observations permit the interrogation of diurnal surface ices/frost, thermophysics (including sub-surface layering from both a seasonal and diurnal skin depth), surface roughness, and rock abundance in addition to the primary science goals.

In this presentation, we provide an overview of the first surface observations, atmospheric retrieval algorithm, and first atmospheric science results from the aphelion-season observations taken by EMIRS over the first several months of EMM Science Phase operations.