Revisiting the Jovian moons' surfaces in the infrared using the Galileo/NIMS database

Thomas Cornet (1) , Guillaume Cruz-Mermy (2) , François Andrieu (2) , Frédéric Schmidt (2, 3) , Ines Belgacem (4) , Nicolas Altobelli (4)

1 Aurora Technology BV
2 GEOPS - Géosciences Paris Saclay
3 IUF - Institut universitaire de France
4 ESA - Agence Spatiale Européenne = European Space Agency

We tested, for the first time and in a systematic way, the inversion of Galileo NIMS infrared spectra using a significant number of 3, 4 and 5 compounds combinations out of a selection of 15 chemical compounds, using a non-linear radiative transfer model. We found that there is no unique solution to determine the exact composition of the surface, but a family of endmember are required: water ice, SAO and sulfates. This composition set seems to be coherent for both bright and dark regions of Europa. We will discuss the implication of these results on the Europa’s surface processes.

Domaines: Géophysique [physics.geo-ph]

Thomas Cornet, Guillaume Cruz-Mermy, François Andrieu, Frédéric Schmidt, Ines Belgacem, et al.. Revisiting the Jovian moons' surfaces in the infrared using the Galileo/NIMS database. EuroPlanet Science Congress (EPSC) 2022, Europlanet Society, Sep 2022, Granada, Spain. ⟨10.5194/epsc2022-497⟩. ⟨insu-03901991⟩