Detection of Low Velocity Space Debris and Micrometeoroid Impacts: An Experimental Investigation

Space debris and micrometeoroids are abundant around our home planet and offer both an opportunity of research for scientists and a threat to human’s endeavours in space. Impacts with even the smallest particles can happen at such high velocities that they can damage or destroy an operational spacecraft, creating even more debris and possibly...

Straight line propagation in radio occultation measurements at Mars: A feasibility study for an alternative calculation of refractivity profiles

Since the first radio occultation measurements were performed to study planetary atmospheres, the calculations returning refractivity profiles always adopted the so-called "spherical symmetry assumption". This hypothesis imposes a null horizontal gradient of the atmospheric parameters within the region sampled during the occultation: a scenario...

Atmospheric Characterisation of Jupiter using Polarimetric Data

Jupiter is the most visited outer solar system planet, but the exact variation in atmospheric properties along its disk remains largely a mystery. This is where polarimetry fits into the picture. Its added value to spectrometry by additionally measuring the polarisation degree and direction of light makes it a suitable remote sensing tool for...

Toward a better Understanding of Europa Crevasses: Application of Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics to Europa

Europa is one of the most interesting celestial world that has been ever observed. The habitability condition, met for the liquid water layer covering the moon, yields to astonishing speculations concerning what might exist in the interior of the tiniest moon of Jupiter. The Voyager and Galileo programs detected a frozen and brittle layer,...

Modelling the orbital-tidal evolution of the Galilean moon Io

Io, the innermost Galilean moon of Jupiter, is the most volcanically active body in the Solar System. Its volcanism is driven by tidal foces, which are in turn sustained by the Laplace resonance between Io, Europa, and Ganymede. Tides have significant impact on a body's characteristics. The liquid ocean underneath Europa's icy surface is...

Mapping the thickness of the Martian elastic lithosphere using maximum likelihood estimation

The outermost strong part of a planet is called the lithosphere. When loads, such as volcanoes, sediments, or intrusions, are applied to the lithosphere, it flexes. The amount of flexure is controlled by the flexural rigidity of the lithosphere. The elastic thickness Te is the thickness of an equivalent fully elastic spherical shell which flexes...

The feasibility of in-situ observations of Europa's water vapour plumes.

Europa, the second of Jupiter’s Galilean moons, has attracted strong interest from the scientific community. This is because it could harbour a sub-surface ocean of liquid water beneath its icy surface, which could be habitable. Recent observations indicate the existence of water vapour plumes at Europa’s south pole. The in-situ measurements of...

State of stresses at Europa’s icy surface: A strong case for the existence of a subsurface ocean

Europa, the smallest of the Galilean satellites, is characterized by a young water-ice surface showing a rich structure of cracks, ridges and chaotic terrain. Below the ice shell a subsurface water-ocean might exist, which in Europa’s case would be in direct contact with the silicate mantle. This direct contact is important from an...

Fishing on Europe: Dynamics of the Jovian moon and its subsurface ocean

The interior of Europa, one of the moons in the Jovian system, is still mainly unknown. There are, however, indications that below an icy outer layer a subsurface ocean is present. Moreover, it has been estimated that in total the ice and ocean are between 80 and 170 kilometers thick. Concerning the thickness of the ice layer, there exist two...

Sensitivity of glacial isostatic adjustment induced rotational changes to the ice-load history

Tidal deformation of Europa and Phobos: Implications on their structure and history

Constraints from ice dynamics for ice load histories from GIA data of the last ice age, and evidence from GIA data for glaciation of the North Sea Basin

Europan tidal deformation: Providing a theoretical framework for altimetry data to determine ocean presence

Post-Seismic deformation in the Vrancea Region (Romania)

Geoid anomalies due to low-viscosity zones in glacial isostatic adjustment modeling

A comparative study of long-term polar motion of terrestrial bodies