The Venus Emissivity Mapper (VEM): obtaining global mineralogy of Venus from orbit

Helbert, J.; Dyar, Darby; Walter, Ingo; Wendler, D.; Widemann, Thomas; Marcq, Emmanuel; Guignan, Gabriel; Ferrari, Sabrina; Maturilli, Alessandro; Müller, N.; Kappel, David; Jaenchen, Judit; D'Amore, Mario; Boerner, Anko; Tsang, C. C. C.; Arnold, Gabriele; Smrekar, S. E.

doi:10.1117/12.2320112

Cited by 13 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…The VISAR X-band [2] VEM [3,4] will produce surface coverage of most of the surface in 6 NIR bands located within 5 atmospheric windows and of 8 atmospheric bands for calibration and water vapor measurements.…”

Section: Payloadmentioning

confidence: 99%

VERITAS (Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography And Spectroscopy): A Proposed Discovery Mission

Smrekar¹,

Dyar²,

Helbert³

et al. 2024

Preprint

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VERITAS is a proposed Discovery mission concept, currently in Step 2 (Phase A), and would launch in 2026. VERITAS addresses one of the most fundamental questions in rocky planetary evolution: why did twin planets follow different evolutionary paths? Venus&#8217; hot lithosphere may be a good analog for early Earth, and could be responsible for the apparent lack of plate tectonics.&#160; Determining the factors that lead to the initiation of plate tectonics would inform our predictions for rocky Earth-sized exoplanets.&#160; VERITAS answers key questions about Venus&#8217; geologic evolution and searches for current activity and evidence for past or present water. Payload: VERITAS carries two instruments and conducts gravity science. The VISAR X-band [Hensley et al., this meeting] measurements include: 1) a global digital elevation model (DEM) with 250 m postings, 5 m height accuracy, 2) Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging at 30 m horizontal resolution globally, 3) SAR imaging at 15 m resolution > 20% of the surface and 4) surface deformation from RPI at 2 mm precision for at least 12 targeted, potentially active areas. VEM [Helbert et al., this meeting] would produce surface coverage of most of the surface in 6 NIR bands located within 5 atmospheric windows and of 8 atmospheric bands for calibration and water vapor measurements. VERITAS would use Ka-band uplink and downlink to create a global gravity field with 3 mgal accuracy / 160 km resolution. Science: VERITAS looks for the chemical fingerprint of past water in the form of low Fe, high Si rock in the tessera plateaus [Dyar et al. submitted, 2020; Helbert et al., submitted, 2020] and for present day volcanic outgassing of volatiles in the form of near surface water outgassing due to recent or active volcanism.&#160; VERITAS uses a variety of approaches to search for present day activity, including 1) tectonic and volcanic cm-scale surface deformation, 2) chemical weathering, 3) thermal emission from recent or active volcanism, 4) topographic or surface roughness changes, and 5) comparisons to past mission data sets. VERITAS constrains rocky planet evolution via: 1) examining the origin of tesserae plateaus -possible continent-like features, 2) assessing the history of volcanism, 3) looking for evidence of prior tectonic or impact features buried by volcanism, and 4) determining the origin of tectonic features such as huge arcuate troughs that have been compared to Earth&#8217;s subduction zones. VERITAS gravity data (resolution 160 km, 3x better than avg. Magellan resolution), would enable estimation of elastic thickness (a proxy for thermal gradient) and determination of core size [Mazerico et al. Fall AGU 2019]. &#160; Conclusions: VERITAS would create a rich data set of high-resolution topography, imaging, spectroscopy, and gravity. These co-registered data would be on par with those acquired for Mercury, Mars and the Moon that have revolutionized our understanding of these bodies. In addition to answering fundamental science questions, VERITAS&#8217; data would motivate further Venus missions. &#160;Active surface deformation would promote a seismic mission. Accurate topography plus surface rock type would optimize targeting of surface or areal missions. Acknowledgements: A portion of this research was conducted at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with NASA. The information presented to about the VERITAS mission concept is pre-decisional and is provided for planning and discussion purposes only.

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Section: Payloadmentioning

confidence: 99%

VERITAS (Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography And Spectroscopy): A Proposed Discovery Mission

Smrekar¹,

Dyar²,

Helbert³

et al. 2024

Preprint

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“…The VenSpec-H electronics is self-contained, allowing mounting on the deck of the spacecraft itself, avoiding additional thermal input into the optical bench of the instrument. The VenSpec-M system design was discussed in detailed in as the Venus Emissivity Mapper for the NASA Discovery mission VERITAS [4,5], so only a top-level summary is provided here. VenSpec-M is a pushbroom multispectral imaging system.…”

Section: Venspec-hmentioning

confidence: 99%

The VenSpec suite on the ESA EnVision mission to Venus

Helbert

Vandaele

Marcq

et al. 2019

Infrared Remote Sensing and Instrumentation XXVII

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The VenSpec instrument suite is part of the payload for the ESA M5 mission proposal EnVision which is currently in a competitive Phase A study. VenSpec consists of three channels: VenSpec-M, VenSpec-H and VenSpec-U. VenSpec-M will provide near-global compositional data on rock types, weathering, and crustal evolution by mapping the Venus surface in five atmospheric windows. VenSpec-H will be dedicated to extremely high-resolution atmospheric measurements. The main objective of the VenSpec-H instrument is to detect and quantify SO₂, H₂O and HDO in the lower atmosphere, to enable characterization of volcanic plumes and other sources of gas exchange with the surface of Venus, complementing VenSAR and VenSpec-M surface and SRS subsurface observations. VenSpec-U will monitor sulphured minor species (mainly SO and SO₂) and the as yet unknown UV absorber in Venusian upper clouds and just above. In combination, VenSpec will provide unprecedented insights into the current state of Venus and its past evolution. VenSpec will perform a comprehensive search for volcanic activity by targeting atmospheric signatures, thermal signatures and compositional signatures, as well as a global map of surface composition

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In response to these successes, the Venus Emissivity Mapper (VEM) concept was developed for future orbital missions to enable Venus' surface to be studied from orbit through six different windows at 0.86, 0.91, 0.99, 1.02, 1.11, and 1.18 µm (Helbert et al, 2018(Helbert et al, , 2019. It is proposed as part of the VERITAS (Helbert et al, 2018;Smrekar et al, 2020) and Envision (Helbert et al, 2019) missions. In a manner analogous to the eight-filter imaging on the Pancam instrument of the Mars Exploration rovers (Bell et al, 2003) or the imaging of the surface of Titan by the VIMS instrument on the Cassini mission (Barnes et al, 2007), the six windows can provide a wealth of information on surface composition.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%