Application of a Rough-Surface Thermal Model to Observations of Mercury
A. Sprague, J. Emery, J. Bigelow (LPL, U of AZ), L. Deutsch (Boston University), J. Hora (IFA, U of HI), B. Hoffmann, A. Dayal (Steward Obs., U of AZ), F. Witteborn, D. Wooden (NASA ARC), J. Colwell (U of CO), R. Kozlowski, B. Ludwig (Susquehanna University)
Mid-infrared telescopic observations of Mercury show departures from
models of rough-surface thermal emission that may be interpreted in
terms of the emittance and reflectance of surface materials. The
rough-surface thermal model of Emery et al. (LPSC Abs. XXVIII) has
been removed from both 2-D images obtained at the Kitt Peak 90 inch
observatory with MIRAC (Hoffmann et al. 1993 SPIE 1946)
and from medium resolution spectra obtained from the Kuiper Airborne
Observatory (KAO) (Sprague et al. LPSC Abs. XXVII)
with HIFOGS (Witteborn et al. 1996, ASP Conf. Ser. 41).
The residuals show features indicative of non-uniform emissivity
in both spectral and spatial dimensions. These are interpreted in
terms of non-uniformities in the composition and thermal conductivity
of the surface.