European Space Agency European Mars Science and Exploration Conference: Mars Express & ExoMars ESTEC, Noordwijk,

The Netherlands, 12 - 16 November, 2007 DETECTING CH4 AND OTHER TRACE SPECIES ON MARS WITH A SOIR INSTRUMENT. F. Montmessin1, A.C. Vandaele2, E. Neefs2, J.-L. Bertaux1, and F. Daerden2, 1Service d'Aronomie, rduit de Verrires, 91371 Verrires le Buisson, France, 2Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy, 3 av Circulaire, 1180 Brussels, Belgium. franck.montmessin@aero.jussieu.fr SOIR (Solar Occultation InfraRed spectrometer) is currently part of the SPICAV/SOIR instrument [1] on board the Venus Express orbiter. SOIR, an Echelle spectrometer using an acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF) for the order selection, is probing the atmosphere by the technique of solar occultation, operating between 2.2 and 4.3 m, with a resolution of 0.15 cm-1. This spectral range is suitable for the detection of several key components of planetary atmospheres, in particular that of CH4, using the 3 vibrational band located near 3.3 m. Detection of CH4 in the Mars atmosphere has already been reported [2] using the PFS instrument on board Mars Express and from ground-based telescope observations [3]. However, due to the resolution of PFS instrument (1.4 cm-1), the P- and R- branches could not be resolved and the detection relied on the observation of a sharp feature attributed to the Q-branch of the band. However, recent measurements [4,5] have revealed the presence of 16C12O18C lines in the vicinity of the 3 CH4 band, around 2982 cm-1, which might impair the CH4 detection. With its high resolution capability and its high signal-to-noise ratio (since observing the sun directly), the SOIR instrument could resolve methane individual lines in the 3 vibrational band region and provide a very robust CH4 detection. In addition, it could detect methane isotopomers (such as 13CH4) and other methane photochemical byproducts (C2H6, H2 CO), thereby providing important clues on the photochemical cycle of hydrocarbons on Mars. We will present simulations of spectra such as would be recorded by a SOIR instrument probing the Mars atmosphere, allowing the determination of lower limits for the detection of trace constituents. A sensitivity study has also been performed regarding some of instrumental characteristics of the SOIR instrument (band pass of the AOT filter, order separation of the Echelle spectrometer).
References: [1] Bertaux, J.-L., et al. (2007), PSS (in press). [2] Formisano, V. et al. (2004), Science 306, 17581761. [3] Krasnopolsky et al. (2004), Icarus 172, 537-547 [3] Villanueva, G. et al., Icarus (submitted). [4] Vandaele, A.C. et al. (2007), 39th DPS annual Meeting, Abs. #45.03; Bertaux, J.-L. et al., Icarus (submitted)