Soil Thermophysical Properties Near the InSight Lander Derived From 50 Sols of Radiometer Measurements

Measurements from the InSight lander radiometer acquired after landing are used to characterize the thermophysical properties of the Martian soil in Homestead hollow. This data set is unique as it stems from a high measurement cadence fixed platform studying a simple well-characterized surface, and it benefits from the environmental characterization provided by other instruments. We focus on observations acquired before the arrival of a regional dust storm (near Sol 50), on the furthest observed patch of soil (i.e., similar to 3.5 m away from the edge of the lander deck) where temperatures are least impacted by the presence of the lander and where the soil has been least disrupted during landing. Diurnal temperature cycles are fit using a homogenous soil configuration with a thermal inertia of 183 +/- 25 J m(-2) K-1 s(-1/2) and an albedo of 0.16, corresponding to very fine to fine sand with the vast majority of particles smaller than 140 mu m. A pre-landing assessment leveraging orbital thermal infrared data is consistent with these results, but our analysis of the full diurnal temperature cycle acquired from the ground further indicates that near surface layers with different thermophysical properties must be thin (i.e., typically within the top few mm) and deep layering with different thermophysical properties must be at least below similar to 4 cm. The low thermal inertia value indicates limited soil cementation within the upper one or two skin depths (i.e., similar to 4-8 cm and more), with cement volumes <<1%, which is challenging to reconcile with visible images of overhangs in pits.

Automated summary

Measurements from the InSight lander radiometer are used to study the thermophysical properties of Martian soil, focusing on observations obtained before the arrival of a regional dust storm. Results show different thermophysical properties in near surface layers and deep layers of the soil.