2:00 PM - 2:15 PM
[PPS05-02] MERTIS - The MErcury Radiometer and Thermal infrared Imaging Spectrometer on its way to Mercury
Keywords:Mercury, infrared, terrestrial planets, solar system
MERTIS will map the whole surface of Mercury with a spatial resolution of 500m for the spectrometer channel and 2km for the radiometer channel. The compositional map of Mercury provided by MERTIS will allow unique insights into the evolution of the least explored terrestrial planet. MERTIS will also address directly questions raised by the NASA MESSENGER mission. For example we will be able to provide spatially re-solved compositional information on the hollows and pyroclastic deposits and answer the question whether hollows are actually predominately sulfide deposits.
MERTIS combines a push-broom IR grating spectrometer (TIS) with a radiometer (TIR). TIS operates between 7 and 14 µm and will record dayside radiance spectra of Mercury to infer surface emissivity characteristics, whereas TIR is going to measure the surface temperature (80 -700 K) at night- and dayside in the spectral range from 7-40 µm. TIR is implemented by an in-plane separation arrangement. In this configuration the two radiometer detector lines form the slit of the TIS channel which is an imaging spectrometer. It uses the first European-built space-qualified uncooled microbolometer array. The optical design of MERTIS combines a three mirror anastigmat (TMA) with a modified Offner grating spectrometer. A pointing device allows viewing the planet (planet-baffle), deep space (space-baffle), and two black bodies at 300 K and 700 K temperature, respectively.
MERTIS has successfully obtained observations of the Moon and Venus during flybys. Using the data from the flybys allowed to show that MERTIS shows a performance that significantly exceeds the requirements. The flybys also helped to improve the calibration as well as optimize the operation of the instrument.
MERTIS combines a push-broom IR grating spectrometer (TIS) with a radiometer (TIR). TIS operates between 7 and 14 µm and will record dayside radiance spectra of Mercury to infer surface emissivity characteristics, whereas TIR is going to measure the surface temperature (80 -700 K) at night- and dayside in the spectral range from 7-40 µm. TIR is implemented by an in-plane separation arrangement. In this configuration the two radiometer detector lines form the slit of the TIS channel which is an imaging spectrometer. It uses the first European-built space-qualified uncooled microbolometer array. The optical design of MERTIS combines a three mirror anastigmat (TMA) with a modified Offner grating spectrometer. A pointing device allows viewing the planet (planet-baffle), deep space (space-baffle), and two black bodies at 300 K and 700 K temperature, respectively.
MERTIS has successfully obtained observations of the Moon and Venus during flybys. Using the data from the flybys allowed to show that MERTIS shows a performance that significantly exceeds the requirements. The flybys also helped to improve the calibration as well as optimize the operation of the instrument.