DPS Meeting, Madison, October 1998 Session 6. Observations of opacity in Mars Orbiter Laser Orbiter experiment. Results from SPO orbit. MOLA measures topography, reflectivity and returned pulse width. Here we will discuss reflectivity and interpret it in terms of atmospheric opacity.
Reflectivity is a ratio of the returned energy to the emitted energy.
Attenuation of the MOLA signal in the atmosphere is only due to extinction of photons from the laser beam. There are practically no photons scattered into the laser beam. This allows us a very straightforward calculation of opacity, given albedo of the surface. We will present opacity calculations based on IRTM bolometric channel albedo map and red-filter camera images and discuss problems associated with opacity calculations based on these datasets. Atmospheric opacity is a function of the wavelength due to the scattering properties of the aerosols.