Tomographic Radio Occultation Methods Applied to a Dense Cubesat Formation in Low Mars Orbit

• Published in: Radio science 2021-07, Vol.56 (7), p.n/a
• Main Authors: Moeller, Gregor, Ao, Chi O., Mannucci, Anthony J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Atmosphere; Atmospheric structure; Climate; cross‐link occultations; Cubesat; dense cubesat formation; Dust; Dust storms; fine resolution; Ice caps; Mars; Mars atmosphere; Mars missions; Mars orbiters; Mars surface; Night; Polar caps; Principles; Radio observation; Radio occultation; Satellites; Strings; tomography; Weather
• ISSN: 0048-6604; 1944-799X
• DOI: 10.1029/2020RS007199

The atmospheric measurements made by the eight Mars orbiters in operation (as of April 2021) significantly improved our understanding of the Martian weather and climate. However, while some of the existing Mars orbiters will reach their lifetime, innovative and cost‐effective observation concepts are requested – not only to guarantee continued observation but also to address potential gaps in the existing observing network. Inspired by the success of the two MarsCube One satellites we have established an observation concept, which is based on a series of cubesats, carried to Mars and injected into a low Mars orbit in a so‐called string‐of‐pearls formation. Over the lifetime of the cubesats of about one Martian year, a series of radio occultation (RO) experiments will be carried out with up to 180 partially overlapping RO measurements per day. For processing of the unique set of observations, tomographic principles are applied to the RO measurements for the reconstruction of high‐resolution two‐dimensional temperature and pressure fields of the lower Martian atmosphere. Unlike the standard Abel transform approach, the derived products are not dependent on spherical symmetry assumptions. Thus, insights into various unresolved atmospheric phenomena are obtained – especially of those which are characterized by distinct horizontal gradients in pressure and temperature, for example, as observed at the day‐night terminator, during dust storms, or over complex terrain. Plain Language Summary Satellite missions to Mars are crucial for monitoring the atmospheric state and to derive valuable information about the weather and climate on our red fellow planet. When traveling through the atmosphere, the radio links between orbiting satellites are delayed and the frequency shifts can be used to carefully study the atmospheric processes in detail. However, the existing Mars orbiters are not designed for cross‐link measurements between the orbiters and thus, the number of radio observations is limited. In order to overcome current limitations, we present a new observation concept, which is based on four cubesats, deployed into in a so‐called “string‐of‐pearls” formation around Mars. The established constellation will allow for 180 globally distributed measurement series per day and each series opens the ability to study horizontal and vertical structures in the Martian atmosphere with fine resolution. A new processing strategy based on tomographic principles applied to the