Short Course on Planetary Atmospheric Science and Instrumentation
Expanding scientific knowledge of planetary atmospheres is not only a primary motivation for planetary exploration but it goes hand in hand with successful execution of missions of in situ exploration including those involving probes, landers, rotorcraft and balloons.These course review the scientific motivations for exploring planetary atmospheres, the experimental techniques that have been used to discern the nature of the gases and aerosols that constitute planetary atmospheres and the processes that drive their circulation. The course will look backwards in order to understand what we know now about our Mars, Venus, Titan and the outer planets from past missions. However, a major focus will be on what can be learned from future missions using in situ instrumentation to study their atmospheres. In keeping with the goals of IPPW, the topics cover scientific, engineering, new technology and programmatic aspects with the goal of engaging the interest of our existing community and educating the new generation that will carry out future mission.
Topics covered:
- Scientific motivations for research into planetary atmospheres
- Review of atmospheric instrumentation methods
- Atmospheric parameters important for EDL and future aerial missions
- What we have learned from past missions
- Mars – from Viking to Perseverance
- Outer solar system– Galileo (Jupiter) and Huygens (Titan) probes
- Venus – from Pioneer Venus to VeGa
- Opportunities with future missions
- Mars – opportunities with new instruments
- Outer planets – Uranus and Saturn probe
- Venus – Venus Life Finder, DAVINCI, Venus balloons
- Opportunities for international collaboration
- Simulating clouds and aerosol in terrestrial chambers
Short Course Organizers
Ignacio Arruego Rodriguez arruegori@inta.es
Daniel Toledo Carrasco toledocd@inta.es
Victor Apestigue Palacio apestiguepv@inta.es
Kunio Sayanagi kunio.m.sayanagi@nasa.gov
James Cutts James.A.Cutts@jpl.nasa.gov -IOC Liaison
The Short Course is held at the Space Center Baden-Wuerttemberg the weekend before the IPPW (21st and 22nd of June 2025) on the campus of the University of Stuttgart
