Understanding Planet Mars With Advanced Remote-sensing Datasets and Synergistic Studies (UPWARDS)

P.I.: 
López-Valverde, Miguel Ángel
Ref.: 
633127-H2020
Period: 
Mar 01, 2015 to Feb 28, 2018
Amount: 
€ 2 103 593
Funding agency: 
European Commission Horizon 2020
Summary: 

http://www.upwards-mars.eu/

UPWARDS had as its overarching objective the revision and exploitation of data from the European Mars Express (MEx) mission as well as other Martian missions using a synergistic combination of state-of-the-art atmospheric/subsurface models and novel retrieval tools. UPWARDS goals were:

  1. to address major open science questions which require an integrated understanding of the Mars coupled system from the subsurface to the upper atmosphere;
  2. to prepare for ExoMars 2016 Trace Gas Orbiter data analysis and exploitation; and
  3. to deliver enhanced scientific context and datasets for ExoMars 2018 Rover operations and future missions.

The UPWARDS Consortium undertook five grand science themes which challenge our current understanding of the complex couplings of the Mars’ climate:

  1. exchange of trace species between subsurface & atmosphere;
  2. global cycle of Martian water;
  3. surface properties and behaviour of suspended aerosols and dust storms;
  4. drastic changes at the day/night terminator; and
  5. coupling of the lower and upper atmosphere and escape to space.

All topics were addressed by experts in the field, exchanging results and knowledge in a truly synergistic and interdisciplinary collaboration. All topics shared a common methodology and work flow:

  1. compilation of new or unexploited data from MEx;
  2. generation of added-value products with new/validated tools developed in the Consortium;
  3. analysis and combination of the results with state-of-the-art models.

Included is a novel data-assimilation devoted to supply as an end-product, the first of its-kind 4-D (x,y,z,t) database for ExoMars and beyond. The dissemination of UPWARDS high-level data products and the outreach activities by the scientists who produce them, paved the way for establishing a long-term competency in Martian research at a global recognized level, and breeded a new generation of European scientists.

GAPT members involved:
Bernd Funke
Maya García Comas
Francisco González-Galindo
Manuel López-Puertas
Miguel Ángel López-Valverde
Sergio Jiménez-Monferrer