The Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer, MEDA. A Suite of Environmental Sensors for the Mars 2020 Mission

NASA’s Mars 2020 (M2020) rover mission includes a suite of sensors to monitor current environmental conditions near the surface of Mars and to constrain bulk aerosol properties from changes in atmospheric radiation at the surface. The Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA) consists of a set of...

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Authors: Rodríguez Manfredi, J. A., De la Torre Juárez, M., Alonso, A., Apéstigue, Víctor, Arruego, Ignacio, Atienza, T., Banfield, D., Boland, J., Carrera, M. A., Castañer, L., Ceballos Cáceres, J., Chen Chen, H., Cobos, A., Conrad, Pamela G., Cordoba, E., Del Río Gaztelurrutia, T., Vicente Retortillo, Álvaro, Domínguez Pumar, M., Espejo, S., Fairén, Alberto G., Fernández Palma, A., Ferrándiz, Ricardo, Ferri, F., Fischer, E., García Manchado, A., García Villadangos, M., Genzer, María, Giménez, Á., Gómez Elvira, J., Gómez, Felipe, Guzewich, Scott, Harri, Ari-Matti, Hernández, C. D., Hieta, M., Hueso, R., Jaakonaho, I., Jiménez Martín, Juan José, Jiménez, V., Larman, A., Leiter, R., Lepinette Malvitte, A., Lemmon, M. T., López, G., Madsen, Soren N., Mäkinen, T., Marín Jiménez, M., Martín Soler, J., Martínez, Germán M., Molina, A., Mora Sotomayor, L., Moreno Álvarez, J. F., Navarro López, Sara, Newman, C. E., Ortega, Cristina, Parrondo, María Concepción, Peinado, V., Peña, A., Pérez Grande, I., Pérez Hoyos, S., Pla García, J., Polkko, J., Postigo, M., Prieto-Ballesteros, Olga, Rafkin, Scot C. R., Ramos, Miguel, Richardson, M. I., Romeral, J., Romero Guzmán, Catalina, Runyon, Kirby, Saiz López, A., Sánchez Lavega, Agustín, Sard, I., Schofield, J. T., Sebastián, E., Smith, Michael D., Sullivan, Robert, Tamppari, L. K., Thompson, A. D., Toledo, D., Torrero, F., Torres, J., Urquí, R., Velasco, T., Viúdez Moreiras, Daniel, Zurita, S.
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2021
Country:España
Institution:Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA)
Repository:DIGITAL.INTA Repositorio Digital del Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.inta.es:20.500.12666/587
Online Access:https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11214-021-00816-9
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12666/587
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Meda Instruments
Mars2020
Perseverance
Instruments
Mars
Atmosphere
Pressure
Wind
Temperature
Surface Temperature
Albedo
Dust
Clouds
UV
Thermal Infrared
Radiation Fluxes
Description
Summary:NASA’s Mars 2020 (M2020) rover mission includes a suite of sensors to monitor current environmental conditions near the surface of Mars and to constrain bulk aerosol properties from changes in atmospheric radiation at the surface. The Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA) consists of a set of meteorological sensors including wind sensor, a barometer, a relative humidity sensor, a set of 5 thermocouples to measure atmospheric temperature at ∼1.5 m and ∼0.5 m above the surface, a set of thermopiles to characterize the thermal IR brightness temperatures of the surface and the lower atmosphere. MEDA adds a radiation and dust sensor to monitor the optical atmospheric properties that can be used to infer bulk aerosol physical properties such as particle size distribution, non-sphericity, and concentration. The MEDA package and its scientific purpose are described in this document as well as how it responded to the calibration tests and how it helps prepare for the human exploration of Mars. A comparison is also presented to previous environmental monitoring payloads landed on Mars on the Viking, Pathfinder, Phoenix, MSL, and InSight spacecraft.

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