Hydrogen peroxide on Mars: Observations, interpretation and future plans

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• 作者：T. Encrenaz ; T.K. Greathouse ; F. Lef¨¨vre ; S.K. Atreya
• 关键词：Mars ; Mars atmosphere ; Mars photochemistry ; Infrared spectroscopy
• 刊名：Planetary and Space Science
• 出版年：2012
• 出版时间：August, 2012
• 年：2012
• 卷：68
• 期：1
• 页码：3-17
• 全文大小：2491 K

文摘

Ever since the Viking mass spectrometer failed to detect organics on the surface of Mars in 1976 (), hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) has been suggested as a possible oxidizer of the Martian surface (). However, the search for H₂O₂ on Mars was unsuccessful for three decades. In 2003, hydrogen peroxide was finally detected using two ground-based independent techniques, first with submillimeter heterodyne spectroscopy () and then again with thermal infrared imaging spectroscopy (). The latter method has been used to simultaneously monitor the abundances and spatial distributions of H₂O₂ and H₂O on Mars as a function of the seasonal cycle. Comparison with the LMD Global Climate Model (GCM) shows that the observations favor simulations taking into account heterogeneous chemistry (). It has been suggested () that large amounts of hydrogen peroxide could be generated by triboelectricity during dust storms or dust devils. This paper presents a review of the present H₂O₂ dataset and an analysis of observability of peroxide during such events using present and future means.