Abstract
Abstract. The wind measurement sensors of Viking Lander 1 (VL1) were only fully operational for the first 45 sols of the mission. We have developed an algorithm for reconstructing the wind measurement data after the wind measurement sensor failures. The algorithm for wind reconstruction enables the processing of wind data during the complete VL1 mission. The heater element of the quadrant sensor, which provided auxiliary measurement for wind direction, failed during the 45th sol of the VL1 mission. Additionally, one of the wind sensors of VL1 broke down during sol 378. Regardless of the failures, it was still possible to reconstruct the wind measurement data, because the failed components of the sensors did not prevent the determination of the wind direction and speed, as some of the components of the wind measurement setup remained intact for the complete mission. This article concentrates on presenting the wind reconstruction algorithm and methods for validating the operation of the algorithm. The algorithm enables the reconstruction of wind measurements for the complete VL1 mission. The amount of available sols is extended from 350 to 2245 sols.
Highlights
The primary goal of the Viking mission was to investigate the current or past existence of life on Mars
Summary and discussion The article focused on developing an algorithm to reconstruct the wind measurements during the complete Viking Lander 1 (VL1) mission
VL1 performed wind direction and speed measurements on the surface of Mars for 2245 sols; the data set produced by the wind reconstruction is significant in its size
Summary
5. The significance of this work lies in the fact that other missions on the surface of Mars have not yet succeeded in measuring a data set equal to the size of that of VL1. Even though the VL1 landed on Mars 40 years ago, not all the data from the VL1 wind instruments have been analyzed and published due to various complications that are described below. Wind measurement setup and sensor malfunctions 2.1 Wind sensors The Viking Lander wind measurement setup consisted of two hot-film wind sensors and a quadrant sensor (Chamberlain et al, 1976). The wind velocity normal to each hot-film sensor could be determined from the power required to maintain the overheating temperature against heat loss due to radiation and conduction. The ambiguity is caused by the wind sensors only measuring the wind velocity component normal to the sensor, and it is resolved using the quadrant sensor (Davey et al, 1973; Sutton et al, 1978)
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