Objective
The applicant proposes to undertake 24 months of research at the Institut Astrophysique Spatiale (IAS), Universite Paris-Sud. The proposed research focuses on improving techniques and instrumentation for use of visible near-infrared (VNIR) spectroscopy in remote determination of the mineralogic composition of planetary surfaces. Mineralogy is a critical tracer for understanding geological processes which occur on planetary bodies and for understanding planetary evolution. The applicant, from the U.S. brings expertise in the mineralogy of weathering and hydrothermal environments on Earth, using techniques which include VNIR spectroscopy, and has also been a collaborating scientist on two NASA Mars missions, the landed MER rovers and the orbiting CRISM spectrometer. This background in remote, laboratory and in-situ investigation of mineralogy and its implications for environmental conditions complements the expertise of IAS researchers in the physics of modeling VNIR light interactions with particles and the development of spacecraft instruments for remote compositional analysis. The scientific objectives of the proposed research are two-fold: (1) to test the efficacy of two prevailing models of radiative transfer for predicting mineral abundance in multi-component mixtures of known composition so as to move VNIR spectroscopy from qualitative identification of single minerals toward quantitative determination of mineral assemblages; and (2) to assist in testing, calibration, and optimization of MicrOmega , a VNIR instrument for the upcoming European Space Agency rover ExoMars by leading preparation of a geological sample suite for use in testing. ESA and NASA recently announced a joint mission architecture for Mars exploration (2016+). The development of complementary collaborative linkages between European and American scientists such as that proposed here is essential for the future success of such interdiscplinary, multinational space exploration missions.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
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Call for proposal
FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IIF
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
MC-IIF - International Incoming Fellowships (IIF)Coordinator
91405 ORSAY CEDEX
France