Martian oases? Feasibility of orbital thermal emission detection
Abstract
We review the motivation for searching out modem "oases" on Mars, and examine methods of detecting them from orbit. We use the term "oasis" to refer to sites with anomalous thermal behavior at, or near the planet's surface. Such sites may be more likely than other locations on Mars to have liquid water nearby, hence the terminology reminiscent of Earth's deserts. Three types of "oases" are considered here: small-scale volcanic eruptions, hot springs, and subsurface intrusions. The general consensus is that such oases are highly unlikely on Mars today, and probably do not exist at all. How much investment is worthy of such a high-risk, unlikely return? We argue that the potential long-term importance of such a discovery does merit a significant investment. We propose a detection strategy based on a high spatial resolution infra-red thermal emission instrument, though other techniques are briefly discussed. We conclude that such an instrument could feasibly detect surface lavas, and quite likely any surface hot springs, but would not be able to unambiguously determine the presence of a buried geothermal anomaly that does not manifest itself sufficiently at the surface in one of the two other forms.
Additional Information
© 2000 Published for the American Astronautical Society by Univelt.Attached Files
Published - Murray_2000p267.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 42695
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20131125-141607077
- Created
-
2013-11-26Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
-
2019-10-03Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Series Name
- Science and technology series (American Astronautical Society)
- Series Volume or Issue Number
- 98
- Other Numbering System Identifier
- AAS 96-329