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Issue A&A
Volume 441, Number 3, October III 2005
Page(s) L9 - L12
Section Letters
DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:200500171



A&A 441, L9-L12 (2005)
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361:200500171

Letter

A mapping of martian water sublimation during early northern summer using OMEGA/Mars Express

T. Encrenaz1, R. Melchiorri1, T. Fouchet1, P. Drossart1, E. Lellouch1, B. Gondet2, J.-P. Bibring2, Y. Langevin2, D. Titov3, N. Ignatiev4 and F. Forget5

1  LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, 92195 Meudon, France
    e-mail: Therese.Encrenaz@obspm.fr
2  Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale, Orsay Campus, 91405 Orsay, France
3  MPI, Max-Planck St. 2, 37191 Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany
4  IKI, Profnoyuznaya 87/32, Moscow 117997, Russia
5  IPSL/LMD, place Jussieu, 75231 Paris cedex 05, France

(Received 13 July 2005 / Accepted 9 August 2005)

Abstract
The OMEGA imaging spectrometer aboard Mars Express has been used to map the water vapor abundance over the martian surface, from the analysis of the 2.6 $\mu$m band of H2O. As a preliminary result of this study, we present water vapor maps in the northern hemisphere at the time of the northern polar cap sublimation ( $L{\rm s} = 94$-112 deg). The maps show a mean H2O mixing ratio of about 2- $3\times 10^{-4}$ at a latitude of 40N, and in the range of 5 $\times$ 10-4-10-3 at 60N-80N latitudes. The corresponding mean H2O column densities are about 25 pr-$\mu$m at 40N and between 40 and 60 pr-$\mu$m at 60N-80N, with uncertainties of about 30 percent. Our results are in agreement with previous results by MAWD/Viking and TES/MGS for latitudes up to 60N, but seem to indicate lower values at high latitude. However they are still globally consistent in view of our error bars.


Key words: planets and satellites: Mars -- infrared: solar system




© ESO 2005

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