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No detection of methane on Mars from early ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter observations

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No detection of methane on Mars from early ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter observations. / Korablev, Oleg; Vandaele, Ann Carine; The ACS and NOMAD Science Teams.

In: Nature, Vol. 568, 25.04.2019, p. 517-520.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

Harvard

Korablev, O, Vandaele, AC & The ACS and NOMAD Science Teams 2019, 'No detection of methane on Mars from early ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter observations', Nature, vol. 568, pp. 517-520. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1096-4

APA

Korablev, O., Vandaele, A. C., & The ACS and NOMAD Science Teams (2019). No detection of methane on Mars from early ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter observations. Nature, 568, 517-520. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1096-4

Vancouver

Korablev O, Vandaele AC, The ACS and NOMAD Science Teams. No detection of methane on Mars from early ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter observations. Nature. 2019 Apr 25;568:517-520. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1096-4

Author

Korablev, Oleg ; Vandaele, Ann Carine ; The ACS and NOMAD Science Teams. / No detection of methane on Mars from early ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter observations. In: Nature. 2019 ; Vol. 568. pp. 517-520.

Bibtex

@article{cc98fe7b40874191a9ff516607479925,
title = "No detection of methane on Mars from early ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter observations",
abstract = "The detection of methane on Mars has been interpreted as indicating that geochemical or biotic activities could persist on Mars today 1 . A number of different measurements of methane show evidence of transient, locally elevated methane concentrations and seasonal variations in background methane concentrations 2–5 . These measurements, however, are difficult to reconcile with our current understanding of the chemistry and physics of the Martian atmosphere 6,7 , which—given methane’s lifetime of several centuries—predicts an even, well mixed distribution of methane 1,6,8 . Here we report highly sensitive measurements of the atmosphere of Mars in an attempt to detect methane, using the ACS and NOMAD instruments onboard the ESA-Roscosmos ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter from April to August 2018. We did not detect any methane over a range of latitudes in both hemispheres, obtaining an upper limit for methane of about 0.05 parts per billion by volume, which is 10 to 100 times lower than previously reported positive detections 2,4 . We suggest that reconciliation between the present findings and the background methane concentrations found in the Gale crater 4 would require an unknown process that can rapidly remove or sequester methane from the lower atmosphere before it spreads globally.",
author = "Oleg Korablev and Vandaele, {Ann Carine} and Franck Montmessin and Fedorova, {Anna A.} and Alexander Trokhimovskiy and Fran{\cc}ois Forget and Franck Lef{\`e}vre and Frank Daerden and Thomas, {Ian R.} and Lo{\"i}c Trompet and Erwin, {Justin T.} and Shohei Aoki and S{\'e}verine Robert and Lori Neary and S{\'e}bastien Viscardy and Grigoriev, {Alexey V.} and Ignatiev, {Nikolay I.} and Alexey Shakun and Andrey Patrakeev and Belyaev, {Denis A.} and Bertaux, {Jean Loup} and Olsen, {Kevin S.} and Lucio Baggio and Juan Alday and Ivanov, {Yuriy S.} and Bojan Ristic and Jon Mason and Yannick Willame and C{\'e}dric Depiesse and Laszlo Hetey and Sophie Berkenbosch and Roland Clairquin and Claudio Queirolo and Bram Beeckman and Eddy Neefs and Patel, {Manish R.} and Giancarlo Bellucci and L{\'o}pez-Moreno, {Jose Juan} and Wilson, {Colin F.} and Giuseppe Etiope and Lev Zelenyi and H{\aa}kan Svedhem and Vago, {Jorge L.} and Gustavo Alonso-Rodrigo and Francesca Altieri and Konstantin Anufreychik and Gabriele Arnold and Sophie Bauduin and David Bols{\'e}e and Teanby, {Nicholas A.} and {The ACS and NOMAD Science Teams}",
year = "2019",
month = "4",
day = "25",
doi = "10.1038/s41586-019-1096-4",
language = "English",
volume = "568",
pages = "517--520",
journal = "Nature",
issn = "0028-0836",
publisher = "Springer Nature",

}

RIS - suitable for import to EndNote

TY - JOUR

T1 - No detection of methane on Mars from early ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter observations

AU - Korablev, Oleg

AU - Vandaele, Ann Carine

AU - Montmessin, Franck

AU - Fedorova, Anna A.

AU - Trokhimovskiy, Alexander

AU - Forget, François

AU - Lefèvre, Franck

AU - Daerden, Frank

AU - Thomas, Ian R.

AU - Trompet, Loïc

AU - Erwin, Justin T.

AU - Aoki, Shohei

AU - Robert, Séverine

AU - Neary, Lori

AU - Viscardy, Sébastien

AU - Grigoriev, Alexey V.

AU - Ignatiev, Nikolay I.

AU - Shakun, Alexey

AU - Patrakeev, Andrey

AU - Belyaev, Denis A.

AU - Bertaux, Jean Loup

AU - Olsen, Kevin S.

AU - Baggio, Lucio

AU - Alday, Juan

AU - Ivanov, Yuriy S.

AU - Ristic, Bojan

AU - Mason, Jon

AU - Willame, Yannick

AU - Depiesse, Cédric

AU - Hetey, Laszlo

AU - Berkenbosch, Sophie

AU - Clairquin, Roland

AU - Queirolo, Claudio

AU - Beeckman, Bram

AU - Neefs, Eddy

AU - Patel, Manish R.

AU - Bellucci, Giancarlo

AU - López-Moreno, Jose Juan

AU - Wilson, Colin F.

AU - Etiope, Giuseppe

AU - Zelenyi, Lev

AU - Svedhem, Håkan

AU - Vago, Jorge L.

AU - Alonso-Rodrigo, Gustavo

AU - Altieri, Francesca

AU - Anufreychik, Konstantin

AU - Arnold, Gabriele

AU - Bauduin, Sophie

AU - Bolsée, David

AU - Teanby, Nicholas A.

AU - The ACS and NOMAD Science Teams

PY - 2019/4/25

Y1 - 2019/4/25

N2 - The detection of methane on Mars has been interpreted as indicating that geochemical or biotic activities could persist on Mars today 1 . A number of different measurements of methane show evidence of transient, locally elevated methane concentrations and seasonal variations in background methane concentrations 2–5 . These measurements, however, are difficult to reconcile with our current understanding of the chemistry and physics of the Martian atmosphere 6,7 , which—given methane’s lifetime of several centuries—predicts an even, well mixed distribution of methane 1,6,8 . Here we report highly sensitive measurements of the atmosphere of Mars in an attempt to detect methane, using the ACS and NOMAD instruments onboard the ESA-Roscosmos ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter from April to August 2018. We did not detect any methane over a range of latitudes in both hemispheres, obtaining an upper limit for methane of about 0.05 parts per billion by volume, which is 10 to 100 times lower than previously reported positive detections 2,4 . We suggest that reconciliation between the present findings and the background methane concentrations found in the Gale crater 4 would require an unknown process that can rapidly remove or sequester methane from the lower atmosphere before it spreads globally.

AB - The detection of methane on Mars has been interpreted as indicating that geochemical or biotic activities could persist on Mars today 1 . A number of different measurements of methane show evidence of transient, locally elevated methane concentrations and seasonal variations in background methane concentrations 2–5 . These measurements, however, are difficult to reconcile with our current understanding of the chemistry and physics of the Martian atmosphere 6,7 , which—given methane’s lifetime of several centuries—predicts an even, well mixed distribution of methane 1,6,8 . Here we report highly sensitive measurements of the atmosphere of Mars in an attempt to detect methane, using the ACS and NOMAD instruments onboard the ESA-Roscosmos ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter from April to August 2018. We did not detect any methane over a range of latitudes in both hemispheres, obtaining an upper limit for methane of about 0.05 parts per billion by volume, which is 10 to 100 times lower than previously reported positive detections 2,4 . We suggest that reconciliation between the present findings and the background methane concentrations found in the Gale crater 4 would require an unknown process that can rapidly remove or sequester methane from the lower atmosphere before it spreads globally.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85064268492&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1038/s41586-019-1096-4

DO - 10.1038/s41586-019-1096-4

M3 - Article

VL - 568

SP - 517

EP - 520

JO - Nature

JF - Nature

SN - 0028-0836

ER -