Investigating the Stability and Distribution of Surface Ice in Mercury’s Northernmost Craters

Dataset DOI

Draft

Author(s)

SUBMITTED

Journal

-

Publication DOI

SUBMITTED

Publication Year

-

Description

Previous investigations of Mercury have reported evidence for water ice at the surface in regions at the north pole. In this study, we look at four of the largest northernmost craters, Kandinsky, Tolkien, Chesterton, and Tryggvadottir, in greater detail than what has been previously done to identify precise regions of surface ice stability and to search for evidence for water ice in said regions. We constructed higher-resolution (125 m/pixel) digital elevation models (DEMs) than what has been presently published for these four craters. The DEMs were leveraged to model the thermal environment, from which we predicted the regions of surface stability for ice and volatile organic compounds. These predictions were then compared against the Arecibo radar, Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA), and Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) data. While our results indicate the presence of water ice at the surface of these craters, we were not able to identify precise boundaries between the ice and the volatile organic compounds due to insufficient data. However, this study is poised to inform BepiColombo observation plans to obtain new measurements of these high-latitude, high-interest craters to test our predictions.

Files

Preview Filename Description
figure1b.png

Maximum solar flux (Wm^-2) in Kandinsky, Tolkien, Chesterton, and Tryggvadottir

figure1a.png

DEMs (km) of Kandinsky, Tolkien, Chesterton, and Tryggvadottir

figure1c.png

Maximum surface temperature (K) of Kandinsky, Tolkien, Chesterton, and Tryggvadottir

figure1d.png

Average surface temperature (K) of Kandinsky, Tolkien, Chesterton, and Tryggvadottir

figure1f.png

Ice stability depth (m) in Kandinsky, Tolkien, Chesterton, and Tryggvadottir

figure1e.png

Coronene stability depth (m) in Kandinsky, Tolkien, Chesterton, and Tryggvadottir

figure1g.png

Prediction of surface composition in Kandinsky, Tolkien, Chesterton, and Tryggvadottir

figure2.png

K-means map of the radar backscatter over Kandinsky, Tolkien, Chesterton, and Tryggvadottir

figure3.png

Average modeled maximum temperatures vs radar backscatter clusters

figure4.png

Average modeled ice stability depth vs radar backscatter clusters

figure5abc.png

MDIS, simulated, and ratio images for Kandinsky. MDIS ID: EW1018679692B

figure5def.png

MDIS, simulated, and ratio images for Tryggvadottir. MDIS ID: EW1025333800B

figure5ghi.png

MDIS, simulated, and ratio images for Chesterton. MDIS ID: EW1012428897B

figure5jkl.png

MDIS, simulated, and ratio images for Tolkien. MDIS ID: EW1010210690B

figure7.png

MLA in the PSR of each crater mapped over MDIS from Fig. 5

figure6.png

All MLA data between 82.5-90 deg N latitude at pulse widths > 15 ns, ranges >100 m and <800 m, and emission angles <35 deg

figure8.png

Probability density as a function of MLA reflectance

figure9abc.png

MDIS, simulated, and ratio images for Kandinsky. MDIS ID: EW1004161613B

figure9def.png

MDIS, simulated, and ratio images for Kandinsky. MDIS ID: EW1015655046B

figure10abc.png

MDIS, simulated, and ratio images for Tryggvadottir. MDIS ID: EW1010210679B

figure10def.png

MDIS, simulated, and ratio images for Tryggvadottir. MDIS ID: EW1011420654B

figure11abc.png

MDIS, simulated, and ratio images for Chesterton. MDIS ID: EW1009605762B

figure11def.png

MDIS, simulated, and ratio images for Chesterton. MDIS ID: EW1023461467B

figure11ghi.png

MDIS, simulated, and ratio images for Chesterton. MDIS ID: EW1009000825B

figure11jkl.png

MDIS, simulated, and ratio images for Chesterton. MDIS ID: EW1009605763B

figure11mno.png

MDIS, simulated, and ratio images for Chesterton. MDIS ID: EW1012428890B

figure11pqr.png

MDIS, simulated, and ratio images for Chesterton. MDIS ID: EW1012457744B

figure11stu.png

MDIS, simulated, and ratio images for Chesterton. MDIS ID: EW10123519075B

figure11vwx.png

MDIS, simulated, and ratio images for Chesterton. MDIS ID: EW1023519076B

chesterton_raw.zip

Raw images and models for Chesterton

chesterton_stack_82mpp.cub

USGS ISIS cub stack for Chesterton

kandinsky_raw.zip

Raw images and models for Kandinsky

tolkien_raw1.zip

Raw images and models for Tolkien

kandinsky_stack_94mpp.cub

USGS ISIS cub stack for Kandinsky

tolkien_stack_86mpp.cub

USGS ISIS cub stack for Tolkien

tryggvadottir_stack_86mpp.cub

USGS ISIS cub stack for Tryggvadottir

tyrggvadottir_raw1.zip

Raw images and models for Tryggvadottir

chesterton_stack_82mpp_readme.pdf

Chesterton USGS ISIS stack README

kandinsky_stack_94mpp_readme.pdf

Kandinsky USGS ISIS stack README

tolkien_stack_86mpp_readme.pdf

Tolkien USGS ISIS stack README

tryggvadottir_stack_86mpp_readme.pdf

Tryggvadottir USGS ISIS stack README

figure12def.png

MDIS, simulated, and ratio images for Tolkien. MDIS ID: EW1025333800B

figure12abc.png

MDIS, simulated, and ratio images for Tolkien. MDIS ID: EW1010210679B

mlaradr_55n_90n_readme.txt

MLA Data README

mlaradr_55n_90n.txt

MLA Data between 55N and 90N

mercury_radar.cub

Radar .cub

Uploaded by glantak1 on Feb. 9, 2023, 2:38 p.m.
Last modified Feb. 13, 2023, 4:04 p.m.