Upper atmosphere research at INPE

Ionosphere and Upper Atmosphere Research with Radars

Mars: upper atmosphere.

The thermal structure of the upper atmosphere of Mars has been theoretically investigated. The exospheric temperature, for a pure CO(2) model atmosphere, lies between 400 degrees and 700 degrees K. The origin of the Martian atmosphere is discussed in the light of these results.

Waves in Pluto’s Upper Atmosphere

Observations of the 2007 March 18 occultation of the star P445.3 (2UCAC 25823784; R = 15.3) by Pluto were obtained at high time resolution at five sites across the western United States and reduced to produce light curves for each station using standard aperture photometry. Global models of Pluto’s upper atmosphere are fitted simultaneously to all resulting light curves. The results of these mo...

High-resolution Satellite Images for Urban Planning, Studies in Progress at Inpe (national Institute for Space Research), Brazil

The availability of high-resolution satellite images allowed new applications, especially in urban areas. In Brazil, where up-to-date information is frequently missing in data banks at Municipal, State and Federal level, the information obtained from these images could eventually fill this gap. In this paper, a case study, performed in the city of São José dos Campos, São Paulo State, Brazil is...

Sputtering and heating of Titan's upper atmosphere.

Titan is an important endpoint for understanding atmospheric evolution. Prior to Cassini's arrival at Saturn, modelling based on Voyager data indicated that the hydrogen escape rate was large (1-3x1028amus-1), but the escape rates for carbon and nitrogen species were relatively small (5x1026amus-1) and dominated by atmospheric sputtering. Recent analysis of the structure of Titan's thermosphere...