Io in the Near Infrared: Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS) Results from the Galileo Tlybys in 1999 and 2000 Rosaly M
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JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 106, NO. El2, PAGES 33,053-33,078, DECEMBER 25, 2001 Io in the near infrared: Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS) results from the Galileo tlybys in 1999 and 2000 Rosaly M. C. Lopes,• L. W. Kamp,• S. Dout6,2 W. D. Smythe,• R. W. Carlson,• A. S. McEwen, 3 P. E. Geissler,3 S. W. Kieffer, 4 F. E. Leader, s A. G. Davies, • E. Barbinis,• R. Mehlman,s M. Segura,• J. Shirley,• and L. A. Soderblom6 Abstract. Galileo'sNear-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer(NIMS) observedIo duringthe spacecraft'sthree flybysin October 1999, November 1999, and February 2000. The observations,which are summarizedhere, were used to map the detailed thermal structure of activevolcanic regions and the surfacedistribution of SO2 and to investigatethe origin of a yet unidentified compoundshowing an absorptionfeature at ---1 •m. We present a summaryof the observationsand results,focusing on the distributionof thermal emission and of SO2 deposits.We find high eruption temperatures,consistent with ultramafic volcanism,at Pele. Such temperaturesmay be present at other hot spots,but the hottest areas may be too small for those temperaturesto be detected at the spatial resolutionof our observations.Loki is the site of frequent eruptions,and the low thermal emissionmay representlavas cooling on the caldera'ssurface or the coolingcrust of a lava lake. High- resolutionspectral observations of Emakong caldera show thermal emissionand SO2 within the same pixels,implying that patchesof SO2 frost and patchesof coolinglavas or sulfur flows are presentwithin a few kilometersfrom one another. Thermal maps of Prometheusand Amirani showthat these two hot spotsare characterizedby long lava flows.The thermal profilesof flows at both locationsare consistentwith insulatedflows, with the Amirani flow field havingmore breakoutsof fresh lava along its length. Prometheusand Amirani each show a white ring at visiblewavelengths, while SO2 distributionmaps showthat the highestconcentration of SO2 in both ring depositslies outsidethe white portion. Visible measurementsat high phaseangles show that the white depositaround Prometheusextends into the SO2 ring. This suggeststhat the depositsare thin and that compositionalor grain size variationsmay occur in the radial direction.SO2 mappingof the Chaac region showsthat the interior of a caldera adjacentto Chaac has almostpure SO2. The depositappears to be topographicallycontrolled, suggesting a possibleorigin by liquid flow. 1. Introduction with activehot spots[Lopes-Gautier et at., 1997;McEwen et at., 1997,1998a; Lopes-Gautier et al., 1999;Marchis et al., 2000] and Io is the only place outside the Earth where large-scale coveredby SO2 frost and other compounds[Carlson et al., active volcanismhas been observed.The dynamicnature of 1997;Geissler et al., 1999;Dout• et al., 2001a].It waspostulated Io's volcanismmakes temporal studies particularly important, that volcanicplumes, which are present at some hot spots, and suchstudies have been made usingboth spacecraftdata inject gaseousSO 2 into the atmosphere.The gaseousSO 2 and ground-basedobservations. One of the major objectivesof diffuses and condenses as frost on the surface. The frost de- the Galileo missionwas to acquirehigh spatialresolution cov- posits serve as tracers that are useful for studyingvolcanic erageof Io in the visibleand infrared.These observations were control over surfaceevolution. The hot spots,many of which obtainedduring three flybysof Io in October1999 (orbit 124), are persistently active [Lopes-Gautieret al., 1999; Lopes- November 1999 (orbit 125), and February 2000 (orbit 127). Gautier,1999], are surfaceexpressions of the tidal heatingthat Prior to these flybys,it was known that Io's surfaceis dotted providesthe energyfor Io's activevolcanism. Io's volcanicactivity and SO2 distributionhave been studied 1jetPropulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology,Pas- usingdata acquiredby the near-infraredmapping spectrome- adena, California. ter (NIMS) sinceJune 1996. Observationsprior to the flybys 2Laboratoirede Planetologiede Grenoble,CNRS, Grenoble, were obtainedwith spatial resolutionsranging from 65 km/ France. 3Lunarand PlanetaryLaboratory, University of Arizona,Tucson, NIMS pixel (for one observationin orbit C21) to over 500 Arizona. km/NIMS pixel. These distantobservations (111 in total) al- 4S.W. KiefferScience Consulting, Inc., Bolton, Ontario, Canada. lowed us to make global studiesof the distributionand tem- 5Institutefor Geophysicsand Planetary Physics, University of Cali- poral variationsof volcanicactivity [Lopes-Gautier et al., 1997, fornia, Los Angeles, California. 1999] and to map the SO2 frost and obtain insightsabout its 6U.S.Geological Survey, Flagstaff, Arizona. cycle [Carlsonet al., 1997; Dout• et al., 2001a]. Joint studies Copyright2001 by the American GeophysicalUnion. with Galileo's solid-stateimaging system (SSI) were used to Paper number 2000JE001463. detecthigh-temperature volcanism [McEwen et al., 1998b;Da- 0148-0227/01/2000JE001463509.00 vieset al., this issue]and to studythe correlationof thermal 33,053 33,054 LOPES ET AL.' IO IN THE NEAR INFRARED emissiondetected by NIMS with surfacecolors and plumes [Lopes-Gautieret al., 1999;Geissler et al., 1999].However, the relativelylow spatialresolution of the distantobservations did not permit local-scale,detailed studiesof particularvolcanic 0.6 regionsto be made. i Galileo's three flybysof Io provided an unprecedentedop- portunityto studyspecific volcanic regions at high spatialres- olution, thus examiningthe role of volcanismat local rather than global scales.Preliminary results were reported by Lopes- Gautier et al. [2000a]. This paper summarizesthe NIMS ob- 0.2 ,, ,!,, servationsand the resultsof our further analyses,focusing on 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 thermal mappingand new data from the 127 orbit. Det. 5 6 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 le-02 2. Observations =. 8e-03 The NIMS instrumenthas been describedby Carlsonet al. : • i • ! i . i , [1992] and Smytheet al. [1995].NIMS includesa spectrometer 7 6e-03 with a scanninggrating and spansthe wavelengthrange 0.7 to 5.2/•m, therefore measuringboth reflected sunlightand ther- i =i. 4e-03 i i i i i i/i i mal emission.NIMS forms spectrawith 17 detectorsin com- ,' • i i i i . i i binationwith the movinggrating. The 17 wavelengths(spaced ' [ [ i : ! i i 2e-03 i • '. t , ! ! acrossthe wavelengthrange) obtainedfor each gratingposi- ...... i , i• ! i i i tion are acquired simultaneously.During the Galileo main • 0e+00 ",•,,,,,. ,",....."•,',•,i,,i.., missionand the Galileo Europa mission(GEM), two of the .5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 Wavelength(pro) NIMS detectors(3 and 8) stoppedworking, and the sensitivity of the first two detectorswas considerably reduced. Prior to the Figure 1. NIMS spectrashowing wavelengths obtained dur- first NIMS observationin I24, gratingmotion ceased,probably ing the flybyobservations, compared to NIMS spectrashowing from radiation damage to the electronics.The grating is wavelengthsavailable prior to the gratingbecoming stuck. The stoppedat the short-wavelengthend of the scan.Recovery has horizontalscale gives wavelength and the correspondingNIMS not been successful so far. detectors.(top) NIMS spectrumof Io in reflectedsunlight (solid line) obtainedfrom a globalobservation taken in Sep- Becauseof the stoppedgrating, the observationsduring the tember 1996 (orbit G2). The spectrum(a regionalaverage) Io flybysobtained 13 fixed infrared (IR) wavelengths(in the showsSO2 absorptions and is describedby Carlsonet al. [1997]. rangefrom 1.0 to 4.7/•m) insteadof the planned360 (Figure Vertical lines showthe wavelengthsobtained during 124 and 1). However,this anomalousoperation provided greater sam- 125, after the instrument'sscanning grating malfunctioned. pling frequency(24 samplesinstead of 1) at eachwavelength, Stars showa typical spectrumobtained during 124 with this increasingthe signal/noiseratio substantiallyand mitigating reducednumber of wavelengths(the differencebetween the the problemof radiationspikes in the data. The reducednum- radiancefactors for thesespectra is due to different illumina- ber of wavelengthsis suitablefor temperaturedetermination tion angles).Detector 7 hasnot givena reliablesignal since the and band ratio mapping(for SO2 and the absorptionband in gratingmalfunctioned and henceis not shownin thisspectrum. SO2 mappingwas done usinga ratio of detector12 (3.28/•m) the 1-/•m region), but our search for yet unknown surface to detector15 (4.13/•m) radiances.(bottom) NIMS spectrum compoundswas compromised.SO2 band ratio mappingfor over the Isum hot spot,with the reflectedsunlight contribution specificregions was reportedby Lopes-Gautieret al. [2000a]. removed(method explained by Soderblomet al. [1999]).This Modeling to relate the band ratio mapping from the flyby spectrumwas obtainedfrom the same global observation(in observationsto results obtained from the full NIMS spectral orbit G2) as the spectrumshown above. The reducednumber range is being done by Dout• et al. [2000]. of wavelengthsin 124 (shownby the dotted vertical lines) is The NIMS observations are listed in Table 1. NIMS ob- sufficientfor obtaininga single-temperaturethermal fit to the tained 17 observationsduring I24, 4 observationsduring I25, data. and 10 observationsduring I27. Additional observations,at reduced spatial sampling,were obtainedwhile SSI acquired data. These are listed in Table 1 as "ride-alongobservations." neously.The SSI observationsare describedby Keszthelyiet al. Spatial resolutionranged from