NSSDCA ID: PSPA-00432
Availability: Archived at NSSDC, accessible from elsewhere
The Mars Climate Sounder is a follow-on experiment to PMIRR, the Pressure Modulator Infrared Radiometer lost with the Mars Observer spacecraft, and to PMIRR2, lost with the Mars Climate Orbiter. MCS observes radiation in nine spectral bands: eight thermal infrared channels are used to determine temperature, pressure, water vapor and condensates as a function of altitude; the remaining channel operates in the visible and near infrared (0.3-3.0 microns) and is used primarily to understand the effects of solar radiation on the Martian energy budget. The determination of the atmospheric parameters will lead to an understanding of Martian weather and, eventually, of Martian climate.
Mars Climate Sounder looks at the horizon of Mars from orbit to observe the atmosphere in vertical slices, with measurements every 5 kilometers (3 miles) down in each slice through the atmosphere. These 'profiles' are combined into daily, three-dimensional global weather maps for both daytime and nighttime. These weather maps will show temperature, pressure, humidity, and dust in various layers of the atmosphere: the same type of information meteorologists use to understand and predict both weather and climate here on Earth.
MCS data are organized into a table of combined engineering and science records. MCS delivers telemetry to the spacecraft every 2 seconds. Data are accrued over a 4 hour period and packaged into an ascii table.
MCS observes radiation in nine spectral bands: eight thermal infrared channels are used to determine temperature, pressure, water vapor and condensates as a function of altitude; the remaining channel operates in the visible and near infrared (0.3-3.0 microns) and is used primarily to understand the effects of solar radiation on the Martian energy budget.
Each record in the table represent a combination of basic engineering and science data taken at 2 second intervals. Columns 1 - 69 contain engineering data, columns 70 - 258 contain science data.
The MCS EDR data products will be generated by the MCS Instrument Team at JPL using software on the MCS Analysis and Data Archiving (ADAC) computers. This software converts the data from their raw SFDU format to EDR products in the format specified by this SIS. Meta-data acquired from the telemetry data headers will be used to populate the PDS label.
These data are available on-line from the Planetary Data System (PDS) at:
http://atmos.nmsu.edu/PDS/data/ in the subdirectories MROM_0XXX.
Questions and comments about this data collection can be directed to: Dr. David R. Williams
Name | Role | Original Affiliation | |
---|---|---|---|
Dr. Daniel J. McCleese | Data Provider | NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory | daniel.j.mccleese@jpl.nasa.gov |
Dr. Lyle F. Huber | General Contact | New Mexico State University | lhuber@nmsu.edu |