PI osterloo is a research scientist at the space science institute in boulder, CO. Much of PI-osterloo S work has focused on understanding the surface composition of mars, with particular focus around…

This is a $82,827.46 grant award from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to the Space Science Institute (SSI), a nonprofit research organization in Boulder, Colorado. The grant will fund a continuation of spectroscopic investigations by Dr. Osterloo, a research scientist at SSI, to further understand the composition and formation of chloride salt deposits on the surface of Mars. The work will build on previous efforts, utilizing the same spectral library and methods to ensure consistency. The grant does not have a set-aside designation, and SSI frequently competes for NASA and other federal agency awards based on scientific and technical merit. The grant is expected to be completed by June 2022, with a final manuscript describing the results to be submitted to the Journal of Geophysical Research-Planets.

PI osterloo is a research scientist at the space science institute in boulder, CO. Much of PI-osterloo S work has focused on understanding the surface composition of mars, with particular focus around understanding the formation mechanisms and timing of chloride salt deposits. She is an expert in orbital and laboratory spectroscopy and is uniquely qualified to undertake the remainder of the work on this project. The proposed work includes a continuation of spectroscopic investigations at both regional and local scales to increase our understanding of the compositional diversity and stratigraphic relationships of the noachis terra chloride deposits to other alteration mineral phases, as well as in context to the parent material from which the alteration phases were derived. PI osterloo will continue to focus on non-linear unmixing techniques for quantitative analysis of mineral abundances and grain size distributions of the surface materials. These methods are key for the characterization of the six regional study areas and detailed geologic mapping of the local chloride-bearing deposits in noachis terra. For continuity, PI osterloo will ensure the same spectral library and spectral methods will be used for interpreting surface mineralogy to be consistent with the previous work of postdoctoral researcher philips. Additionally, an aqueous alteration survey using crism MSP data is underway and will be completed to aid in the synthesis of the aqueous history of noachis terra. PI osterloo will prepare the final manuscript describing the results of this study, to be submitted to the journal of geophysical research-planets by the end of the NCE (september 2021).