Mapping the regional tectonic asset of the Discovery quadrangle of Mercury

<p>The Discovery quadrangle of Mercury (H-11) located in the area between 22.5°S–65°S and 270°E–360°E encompasses structures of paramount importance for understanding Mercury’s tectonics. The quadrangle is named after Discovery Rupes, a NE-SW trending lobate scarp, which is one of the longest and highest on Mercury (600 km in length and 2 km high). By examining the existing maps of this area (Trask and Dzurisin, 1984; Byrne et al., 2014), several other oblique trending structures are visible. More mapping detail could be achieved by using the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) imagery.</p> <p>We aim at mapping the structures of H-11 at high-resolution by using MESSENGER/MDIS basemaps, in order to understand its regional tectonic history by following the work done in the Victoria quadrangle (H-2) (Galluzzi et al., 2019). Differently from H-2, located in the same longitudinal range but at opposite latitudes, this area lacks in N-S trending scarps, such as the Victoria-Endeavour-Antoniadi fault system, which dominates the northern hemisphere structural framework. The existing tectonic theories predict either an isotropic pattern of faults (global contraction) or an ordered distribution and orientation of faults (tidal despinning) for Mercury. If we expect that the existing tectonic patterns were governed by only one of the two processes or both together, it is difficult to understand how such different trends formed within these two complementary areas. The structural study done for H-2 reveals that the geochemical discontinuities present in Mercury’s crust may have guided and influenced the trend and kinematics of faults in that area (Galluzzi et al., 2019). In particular, the high-magnesium region seems to be associated with fault systems that either follow its boundary or are located within it. These fault systems show distinct kinematics and trends. The south-eastern border of the HMR is located within H-11. Hence, with this study, we aim at complementing the previous one to better describe the tectonics linked to the presence of the HMR. Furthermore, this geostructural map will complement the future geomorphological map of the area and will be part of the 1:3M quadrangle geological map series which are being prepared in view of the BepiColombo mission (Galluzzi, 2019). <em>Acknowledgments: We gratefully acknowledge funding from the Italian Space Agency (ASI) under ASI-INAF agreement 2017-47-H.0.</em></p> <p>Byrne et al. (2014). Nature Geoscience, 7(4), 301-307.<br />Galluzzi, V. (2019). In: Planetary Cartography and GIS, Springer, Cham, 207-218.<br />Galluzzi et al. (2019). Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 124(10), 2543-2562.<br />Trask and Dzurisin (1984). USGS, IMAP 1658.</p>

Vacuum ultraviolet photoabsorption spectroscopy of space-related ices

<p>Ices are widely present in the cold regions across the Universe, for instance, in the interstellar medium as mantles on interstellar and circumstellar dust and on the surfaces of small bodies of the Solar System - beyond the distance around 3-5 AU known as the “snowline" (i.e. at temperatures below 150-170 K). The continuous energetic processing of icy objects in the Solar System induces physical and chemical changes within the ice. Laboratory experiments that simulate energetic processing (ions, photons, and electrons) of ices are therefore essential for interpreting and directing future astronomical observations.</p> <p> </p> <p>Here we provide vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) and UV-Vis photoabsorption spectroscopic data of pristine and energetically processed (electron irradiated) space-related ices. Experiments were performed using a custom-made Portable Astrochemistry Chamber (PAC), which has a base pressure of 10<sup>-9</sup> mbar. Photoabsorption spectra of ices were measured at the AU-UV beam line of the ASTRID2 synchrotron light source at Aarhus University in Denmark (see Eden et al. 2006; Palmer et al. 2015). We present the results of three series of experiments: one dedicated to the study of nitrogen- and oxygen-rich ices (Ioppolo et al., 2020); the other one to the spectroscopic study of carbonic acid as formed and destroyed under conditions relevant to space (Ioppolo et al., 2021); and the third one to the study of photoabsorption spectra of O<sub>2</sub> ice, both pure and mixed with other species (Migliorini et al, 2021).</p> <p> </p> <p>Results are discussed in light of their relevance to various astrophysical environments, e.g., the icy moons of Saturn and Jupiter. Laboratory VUV-UV-vis spectra of ices can help their future identification on the surface of icy objects in the Solar System by the upcoming Jupiter ICy moons Explorer mission and on interstellar dust by the James Webb Space Telescope spacecraft.</p> <p>This research was partly supported by the Italian Space Agency (Grant ASI-INAF n. 2018-25-HH-0).</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p>REFERENCES:</p> <p>Eden, S., Limão-Vieira, P., Hoffmann, S. V., & Mason, N. J. 2006, Chem. Phys., 323, 313</p> <p>Ioppolo, S., Kanuchova Z., James, R.L., Dawes, A., Jones, N.C., Hoffmann, S.V., Mason, N.J., Strazzulla, G. 2020, Astron. Astrophys. 641, A154</p> <p>Ioppolo, S., Kanuchova Z., James, R.L., Dawes, A., Ryabov, A., Dezalay, J., Jones, N.C., Hoffmann, S.V., Mason, N.J., Strazzulla, G. 2021, Astron. Astrophys. 645, A172</p> <p>Migliorini, A., Kanuchova Z., Ioppolo, S., Jones, N.C., Hoffmann, S.V., Tosi, F., Piccioni, G., Barbieri, M. 2021, Icarus, <em>submitted</em></p> <p>Palmer, M. H., Ridley, T., Hoffmann, S. V., et al. 2015, J. Chem. Phys., 142, 134302</p> <p> </p>

Vnir reflectance spectroscopyof Mercury like glasses

<p>Glassy materials have been recognized over Mars, Moon and many different meteorites (Farrand et al. 2016; Delano 1986; Varela & Kurat 2004). Planetary glasses result from impact events but they are also found as volcanic products (Farrand et al 2016). Morlock et al. (2017) and Morlok et al. (2021) investigated by means of different experimental techniques (bi-directional diffuse reflectance FTIR, in situ FTIR microscopy, Raman, EPMA and optical microscopy) a suite of synthetic samples with composition similar to those inferred for different Hermean terrains. Here we extended the study of the same materials to the VNIR region (bidirectional reflectance spectroscopy: 350 to 2500 nm). We analyzed 8 different samples with different chemical compositions, produced under different oxygen fugacity conditions We prepared eight granulometric classes between 0 and 250 μm, namely: 0-25; 25-63; 63-100; 100-125; 125-150; 150-180; 180-200 and 200-250 μm. The dominant feature in the VNIR region is due to the Fe absorption band at about 1 μm accompanied, in the more oxidized samples, by a smaller feature at 480 nm likely due to ferric oxide development. Iron free samples (FeO < 0.1 wt%) show characteristic spectral shapes with a distinctive feature at about 640 nm attributable to TiO2. Even for very low FeO content, it is possible to observe a weak yet clear band at about 900-1000 nm due to Fe absorption which explain the dominance of the spectral features due to Fe absorption at higher FeO content. Additional small bands at higher wavelengths (1300-1400 and 1900 nm) suggest a low content of water and/or –OH species in the samples. We investigated the spectral features as a function of composition, grain size and oxidation in order to gain as much information as possible on the nature of the spectra and compare them with remote sensing data or meteorites VNIR comparison. Our data on synthetic and realistic Hermean compositions will allow a better understanding of remotely acquired VisNIR spectra, which will be particularly helpful in view of the upcoming beginning of the BepiColombo ESA/JAXA mission.</p> <p> </p> <p>Acknowledgments: The authors acknowledge financial contribution from the Italian Space Agency (ASI) under ASI-INAF agreement 2017-47-H.0 (Simbio-SYS). CC, EB are also supported by agreement ASI-INAF n.2018-16-HH.0.</p>

ANALYSIS AND DETECTION OF WILDFIRES BY USING PRISMA HYPERSPECTRAL IMAGERY

This paper deals with the analysis and detection of wildfires by using PRISMA imagery. Precursore IperSpettrale della Mis­sione Applicativa (Hyperspectral Precursor of the Application Mission, PRISMA) is a new hyperspectral mission by ASI (Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Italian Space Agency) launched in 2019. This mission provides hyperspectral images with a spectral range of 0.4–2.5 µm and an average spectral resolution less than 10 nm. In this work, we used the PRISMA hypercube acquired during the Australian bushfires of December 2019 in New South Wales. The analysis of the image is presented considering the unique amount of information contained in the continuous spectral signature of the hypercube. The Carbon dioxide Continuum-Interpolated Band Ratio (CO2 CIBR), Hyperspectral Fire Detection Index (HFDI), and Normalized Burn Index (NBR) will be used to analyze the informative content of the image, along with the analysis of some specific visible, near-infrared and shortwave-infrared bands. A multiclass classification is presented by using a I-dimensional convolutional neural network (CNN), and the results will be com­pared with the ones given by a support vector machine classifier reported in literature. Finally, some preliminary results related to wildfire temperature estimation are presented.

Moon Mapping Project Results on Solar Wind Ion Flux and Composition

The “Moon Mapping” project is a collaboration between the Italian and Chinese Governments allowing cooperation and exchange between students from both countries. The main aim of the project is to analyze remotely-sensed data collected by the Chinese space missions Chang’E-1/2 over the Moon surface. The Italian Space Agency is responsible for the Italian side and the Center of Space Exploration, while the China Ministry of Education is responsible for the Chinese side. In this article, we summarize the results of the “Moon Mappining” project topic #1: “map of the solar wind ion” using the data collected by Chang’E-1 satellite. Chang’E-1 is a lunar orbiter, its revolution period lasts 2 h, and its orbit is polar. The satellite is equipped with two Solar Wind Ion Detectors (SWIDs) that are two perpendicular electrostatic spectrometers mapping the sky with a field of view of 15° × 6.7° × 24 ch. The spectrometers can measure solar wind flux in the range 40 eV/q–17 keV/q with an energy resolution of 8% and time resolution of ∼3 s. The data collected by the two Solar Wind Ion Detectors are analyzed to characterize the solar wind flux and composition on the Moon surface and to study the time variations due to the solar activity. The data measured by Chang’E-1 compared with the one measured in the same period by the electrostatic spectrometers onboard the ACE satellite, or with another solar activity indicator as the sunspot number, enrich the multi-messenger/multi-particle view of the Sun, gathering valuable information about the space weather outside the Earth magnetosphere.

Exploring PRISMA Scene for Fire Detection: Case Study of 2019 Bushfires in Ben Halls Gap National Park, NSW, Australia

Precursore IperSpettrale della Missione Applicativa (Hyperspectral Precursor of the Application Mission, PRISMA) is a new hyperspectral mission by the ASI (Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Italian Space Agency) mission launched in 2019 to measure the unique spectral features of diverse materials including vegetation and forest disturbances. In this study, we explored the potential use of this new sensor PRISMA for active wildfire characterization. We used the PRISMA hypercube acquired during the Australian bushfires of 2019 in New South Wales to test three detection techniques that take advantage of the unique spectral features of biomass burning in the spectral range measured by PRISMA. The three methods—the CO2-CIBR (continuum interpolated band ratio), HFDI (hyperspectral fire detection index) and AKBD (advanced K band difference)—were adapted to the PRISMA sensor’s characteristics and evaluated in terms of performance. Classification techniques based on machine learning algorithms (support vector machine, SVM) were used in combination with the visual interpretation of a panchromatic sharpened PRISMA image for validation. Preliminary analysis showed a good overall performance of the instrument in terms of radiance. We observed that the presence of the striping effect in the data can influence the performance of the indices. Both the CIBR and HFDI adapted for PRISMA were able to produce a detection rate spanning between 0.13561 and 0.81598 for CO2-CIBR and that between 0.36171 and 0.88431 depending on the chosen band combination. The potassium emission index turned out to be inadequate for locating flaming in our data, possibly due to multiple factors such as striping noise and the spectral resolution (12 nm) of the PRISMA band centered at the potassium emission.

Viscous Flows Formed The Branched Ridges Of Antoniadi Crater, Mars

<p>Antoniadi basin is a 330 km diameter Noachian basin localized in the East of Arabia Terra that contains a network of ridges with a tree-like organization. Branched ridges, such as these can form by a variety of processes including the inversion of fluvial deposits, thus potentially highlighting aqueous processes of interest for understanding Mars’ climate evolution. Here, we test this hypothesis by analyzing in details data from Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System (CaSSIS), High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) and High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC).</p><p>Branched ridges are up to 10 km long and from 10 to 200 m wide without obvious organization in width. The branched ridges texture is rubbly with the occurrence of blocks up to ~1 m in size and a complete lack of layering. A HiRISE elevation model shows the local slope is of 0.2° toward South, and thus contrary to the apparent network organization (assuming tributary flows). There is no indication of exhumation of these ridges from layers below the current plains surface. Our observations are not consistent with the interpretation of digitate landforms such as inverted channels: (i) The rubbly texture lacking any layering at meter scale is distinct from inverted channels as observed elsewhere on Mars. (ii) Heads of presumed inverted channels display a lobate shape unlike river springs. (iii) There is no increase in width from small branches toward North as expected for channels with increasing discharge rates downstream. (iv) The slope toward South is contrary to the inferred flow direction to the North. The detailed analysis of these branched ridges shows many characteristics difficult to reconcile with inverted channels formed by fluvial channels flowing northward. Subglacial drainages are known to locally flow against topography, but they are rarely dendritic.<strong> </strong>Assuming that deposition occurred along the current slope, thus from North to South, the organization of the network requires a control by distributary channels rather than tributary ones. Distributary channels are possible for fluvial flows, but generally limited to braiding regimes or deltaic deposits, of which no further evidence is observed here. The lobate digitate shapes of the degree 1 branches are actually more in line with deposits of viscous flows, thus as terminal branches. Such an interpretation is consistent with lava or mudflows that formed along the current topography. The next step in this study will be to determine more precisely the rheology of these unusual flows.</p><p><strong>Acknowledgments:</strong> French authors are supported by the CNES. The authors wish to thank the spacecraft and instrument engineering teams. CaSSIS is a project of the University of Bern and funded through the Swiss Space Office via ESA’s PRODEX. The instrument hardware development was also supported by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) (agreement no. I/018/12/0), INAF/Astronomical Observatory of Padova, and the Space Research Center (CBK) in Warsaw. Support from SGF (Budapest), the Univ. of Arizona (Lunar and Planet. Lab.) and NASA are gratefully acknowledged.</p>

Testing PRISMA hyperspectral satellite imagery in predicting soil carbon content based on synthetized LUCAS spectral data

<p>The estimation of the soil organic carbon (SOC) content plays an important role for carbon sequestration in the context of climate change and soil degradation. Reflectance spectroscopy has proven to be promising technique for SOC quantification in the laboratory and increasingly from air and spaceborne platforms, where hyperspectral imagery provides great potential for mapping SOC on larger scales.</p><p>The PRISMA (PRecursore IperSpettrale della Missione Applicativa) is an earth-observation satellite with a medium spatial resolution hyperspectral radiometer onboard, developed and maintained by the Italian Space Agency.</p><p>The Pan-European Land Use/ Land Cover Area Frame Survey (LUCAS) topsoil database contains soil physical, chemical and spectral data for most European countries. Based on the LUCAS points located in Hungary, a synthetized spectral dataset was created and matched to the spectral characteristic of PRISMA sensor, later used for building up machine learning based models (random forest, artificial neural network). SOC levels for the sample area was predicted using generated models and mainly PRISMA imagery.</p><p>Our sample imagery data was generated from five consecutive, cloud-free PRISMA images covering 4500 km<sup>2</sup> in the central part of the Great Plain in Hungary, which is one of the most important agricultural areas of the country, used mainly for crops on arable lands. The images were recorded in 2020 February when most croplands are not covered by vegetation therefore our tests were implemented on bare soils.</p><p>We tested the prediction accuracy of hyperspectral imagery data supplemented by various environmental datasets as additional predictor variables in four scenarios: (i) using solely hyperspectral imagery data (ii) spectral imagery data, elevation and its derived parameters (e.g. slope, aspect, topographic wetness index etc.) (iii) spectral imagery data and land-use information and (iv) all aforementioned data in fusion.</p><p>For validation two types of datasets were used: (i) measured data at the observation sites of the Hungarian Soil Information and Monitoring System and (ii) the recently compiled national SOC maps., which provides a suitable and formerly tested spatial representation of the carbon stock of the Hungarian soils.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Acknowledgment:</strong> Our research was supported by the Cooperative Doctoral Programme for Doctoral Scholarships (1015642) and by the OTKA thematic research projects K-131820 and K-124290 of the Hungarian National Research, Development and Innovation Office and by the Scholarship of Human Resource Supporter (NTP-NFTÖ-20-B-0022). Our project carried out using PRISMA Products, © of the Italian Space Agency (ASI), delivered under an ASI License to use.</p>

Bridge monitoring and deformation time-series analysis by high-resolution Multi-Temporal SAR Interferometry (MT-InSAR)

<p>Multi-temporal Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) is a space-borne monitoring technique capable of detecting cumulative surface displacements with millimeter accuracy in the Line of Sight (LOS) of the radar sensor [1-3]. Several developments in the processing methods and the increasing availability of SAR datasets from different satellite missions, have proven the viability of this technique in the near-real-time assessment of bridges and the health monitoring of transport infrastructures [2-4].</p><p>This research aims to demonstrate the potential of satellite-based remote sensing techniques as an innovative health-monitoring method for structural assessment of bridges and the prevention of damages by structural subsidence, using high-resolution SAR datasets integrated with complementary Ground-Based (GB) Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) techniques. To this purpose, high-resolution COSMO‐SkyMed (CSK) products provided by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) were acquired and processed.</p><p>In particular, a multi-temporal InSAR analysis was developed to identify and monitor the structural displacements of the Rochester Bridge, located in Rochester, Kent, UK. To this extent, a clustering operation is realised to collect the identified Persistent Scatterers (PSs) over the structural elements of the bridge (i.e., bridge piers and arcs). Furthermore, several sub-clusters with a comparable deformation trend were identified and located over the bridge elements. This operation paves the way for an automatisation of the process through a Machine Learning (ML) clustering algorithms to assign each PS data-point to specific groups, based on the structural element type and the trend of seasonal deformation time-series.</p><p>The outcomes of this study demonstrate how multi-temporal InSAR remote sensing techniques can be synergistically applied to complement non-destructive ground-based analyses, paving the way for future integrated methodologies in the monitoring of infrastructure assets.</p><p><strong>Acknowledgments: </strong>The authors want to acknowledge the Italian Space Agency (ASI) for providing the COSMO-SkyMed Products® (©ASI, 2017-2019),  in the framework of the ASI-Open Call Project “MoTIB, ID 742” accepted by ASI. In addition, the authors would like to acknowledge the Rochester Bridge Trust for facilitating and supporting this research. This research is supported by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research under the National Project “EXTRA TN”, PRIN 2017, Prot. 20179BP4SM.</p><p><strong>References</strong></p><p>[1] Alani A. M., Tosti F., Bianchini Ciampoli L., Gagliardi V., Benedetto A., Integration of GPR and InSAR methods for the health monitoring of masonry arch bridges. NDT&E International. (2020)</p><p>[2] Gagliardi V., Bianchini Ciampoli L., D'Amico F., Alani A. M., Tosti F., Battagliere M. L., Benedetto A., Bridge monitoring and assessment by high-resolution satellite remote sensing technologies, Proc. SPIE 11525, SPIE Future Sensing Technologies. 2020. doi: 10.1117/12.2579700</p><p>[3] Selvakumaran, S., Plank, S., Geiß, C., Rossi, C., Middleton, C. (2018). Remote monitoring to predict bridge scour failure using Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) stacking techniques, Int. J. .Appl. Earth Obs. and Geoinf. 73, 463-470.</p><p>[4] Qin X, Liao M., Zhang L., & Yang M., Structural Health and Stability Assessment of High-Speed Railways via Thermal Dilation Mapping with Time-Series InSAR Analysis. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing</p>