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Pluto's Global Surface Composition Through Pixel-by-Pixel Hapke Modeling of New Horizons Ralph LEISA DataOn July 14th 2015, NASA's New Horizons mission gave us an unprecedented detailed view of the Pluto system. The complex compositional diversity of Pluto's encounter hemisphere was revealed by the Ralph/LEISA infrared spectrometer on board of New Horizons. We present compositional maps of Pluto defining the spatial distribution of the abundance and textural properties of the volatiles methane and nitrogen ices and non-volatiles water ice and tholin. These results are obtained by applying a pixel-by-pixel Hapke radiative transfer model to the LEISA scans. Our analysis focuses mainly on the large scale latitudinal variations of methane and nitrogen ices and aims at setting observational constraints to volatile transport models. Specifically, we find three latitudinal bands: the first, enriched in methane, extends from the pole to 55degN, the second dominated by nitrogen, continues south to 35 degN, and the third, com- posed again mainly of methane, reaches 20 degN. We demonstrate that the distribution of volatiles across these surface units can be explained by differences in insolation over the past few decades. The latitudinal pattern is broken by Sputnik Planitia, a large reservoir of volatiles, with nitrogen playing the most important role. The physical properties of methane and nitrogen in this region are suggestive of the presence of a cold trap or possible volatile stratification. Furthermore our modeling results point to a possible sublimation transport of nitrogen from the northwest edge of Sputnik Planitia toward the south.
Document ID
20170002511
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Protopapa, S.
(Maryland Univ. College Park, MD, United States)
Grundy, W. M.
(Lowell Observatory Flagstaff, AZ, United States)
Reuter, D. C.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Hamilton, D. P.
(Maryland Univ. College Park, MD, United States)
Dalle Ore, C. M.
(Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Inst. Mountain View, CA, United States)
Cook, J. C.
(Southwest Research Inst. Boulder, CO, United States)
Cruikshank, D. P.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Schmitt, B.
(Institut de Planetologie et d'Asrophysique Grenoble, France)
Philippe, S.
(Institut de Planetologie et d'Asrophysique Grenoble, France)
Quirico, E.
(Institut de Planetologie et d'Asrophysique Grenoble, France)
Binzel, R. P.
(Massachusetts Inst. of Tech. Cambridge, MA, United States)
Earle, A. M.
(Massachusetts Inst. of Tech. Cambridge, MA, United States)
Ennico, K.
(Southwest Research Inst. Boulder, CO, United States)
Howett, C. J. A.
(Southwest Research Inst. Boulder, CO, United States)
Lunsford, A. W.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Olkin, C. B.
(Southwest Research Inst. Boulder, CO, United States)
Parker, A.
(Southwest Research Inst. Boulder, CO, United States)
Singer, K. N.
(Southwest Research Inst. Boulder, CO, United States)
Stern, A.
(Southwest Research Inst. Boulder, CO, United States)
Verbiscer, A. J.
(Virginia Univ. Charlottesville, VA, United States)
Weaver, H. A.
(Johns Hopkins Univ. Laurel, MD, United States)
Young, L. A.
(Southwest Research Inst. Boulder, CO, United States)
Date Acquired
March 23, 2017
Publication Date
November 30, 2016
Publication Information
Publication: Icarus
Publisher: Elsevier
Volume: 287
ISSN: 0019-1035
e-ISSN: 1090-2643
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN40441
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX13AJ87A
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX16AC83G
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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