Estimate of the D/H ratio in the Martian upper atmosphere from the low spectral resolution mode of MAVEN/IUVS

Abstract

<p>The recent observations performed with the high-resolution “echelle mode” by the Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS) aboard the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission indicated large deuterium brightness near Ls=270°. The deuterium brightness observed at the beginning of the mission, when Mars was close to its perihelion show brightness ~ 1 kR much larger than the first deuterium detection from Earth ~ 20-50R in 20-21 January 1997 (Ls = 67°). This low brightness of the deuterium emission is consistent with the lack of deuterium observation with the echelle mode of IUVS at solar longitudes around aphelion (Ls = 71°). During southern summer (Ls = 270°), especially near the terminator, the Lyman-α emission observed at 121.6 nm with the “low resolution mode” presents some vertical profiles that were not reproducible with models including only the emission from the thermal hydrogen population. In this study, we investigate the possibility to derive quantitative information on the D/H ratio at Mars from the vertical Lyman-α profiles observed with the “low resolution mode”, and the main limits of the method.</p>