NSSDCA ID: PSPA-00156
Availability: At NSSDC, Ready for Offline Distribution (or Staging if Digital)
Time span: 1971-11-27 to 1972-01-21
This data set consists of three published reports supplied by the experimenter -- "Mariner 9 Mars Orbiter Ultraviolet Spectrometer (UVS) Experiment Data Report 2, December 22, 1971", "Mariner 9 Mars Orbiter Ultraviolet Spectrometer Experiment Data Report 4, February 2, 1972", and "Mariner 9 Mars Orbiter Ultraviolet Spectrometer Experiment Data Report 12, March 22, 1972." These reports were published in hardcopy by the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado. Report 2 covers November 27 to December 15, 1971, which coincides with the planetwide dust storm conditions in the lower atmosphere. It presents the UVS data and several appropriate observational parameters grouped according to orbital pass and plotted as a function of time. The first figure of each group shows the path of observation on a 1 to 50,000,000-scale Mercator projection. The subsequent figures of each group come in pairs and include (1) a figure showing the cosine of the illumination angle, the cosine of the instrument viewing angle, and the scattering angle, (2) the UV data showing the reflectance of the 3050-A band, the blue color reflectance ratio (2580 A/3050 A), and the red color reflectance ratio (3380 A/3050 A). Usually there will be two sets of figures for the morning mapping sequence and one for the afternoon sequence. Report 4 covers December 16, 1971, to January 1, 1972. This was a period when the lower atmosphere of Mars began to clear. As in Report 2, the data have been grouped according to orbital pass and plotted as a function of time, with the first figure in each group being the Mercator chart showing the general latitude and longitude regions covered during the pass. However, following this figure the data arrangement is somewhat different. All the 3050-A and 2630-A data obtained on that pass are plotted in time sequence. Each section of data is subdivided into two parts and arranged on opposite pages covering the same time interval. Four curves based on the viewing and illumination geometries have been included to facilitate an understanding of the geometry of the measurements -- (1) the scattering angle is plotted along with the 2630-A to 3050-A reflectance ratio and (2) the cosines of the solar incidence and viewing emission angles and a representative photometric function are plotted along with the 3050-A reflectance. Report 12 covers January 3 to January 21, 1972. As before, the data are presented in orbital sequence, and the coverage is indicated on the Mercator projection. Also indicated on this map is the scattering angle for each of three time intervals of observation. The second figure shows the 3050-A reflectance and the red color ratio plotted as a function of time.
Questions and comments about this data collection can be directed to: Dr. Dieter K. Bilitza
Name | Role | Original Affiliation | |
---|---|---|---|
Dr. Charles A. Barth | Data Provider | University of Colorado | charles.barth@colorado.edu |
Dr. Charles A. Barth | General Contact | University of Colorado | charles.barth@colorado.edu |