Early Results from the MAVEN IUVS Echelle Channel

Abstract:

The IUVS instrument on MAVEN contains the first echelle spectrograph to be sent to another planet. The system has a novel optical design to enable long-aperture measurements of emission lines in the absence of continuum, intended primarily to measure the H and D Ly αlpha emission lines and thereby the D/H ratio from the martian upper atmosphere. The system also detects the OI 1304 triplet with the three component lines well resolved. The main scientific goal of the echelle channel is to measure the H and D Ly αlpha emissions, and to discover how the H and D densities, temperatures, and escape fluxes vary with location, season, topography, etc. The global D/H ratio of the martian atmosphere is roughly 5 times higher than in the terrestrial atmosphere due to the escape of a large volume of water into space, likely early in the history of Mars. Since H atoms escape faster than D atoms, the D/H ratio increases with time as more water is lost. Recent IR observations indicate large variations in the D/H ratio in the lower atmosphere from location to location, and possibly seasonal changes [Villanueva et al. 2015]. HST and MEX measurements of the H corona of Mars show large (order of magnitude) changes in the H exosphere and escape flux with changing seasons and/or heliospheric distance [Clarke et al. 2014; Chaffin et al. 2014]. Do the same variations apply to deuterium? Are there similar variations in the D/H ratio? Early results from the echelle channel will be presented.