Data Processing Results for the Active Neutron Measurements by the DAN Instrument on the Curiosity Mars Rover

• Published in: Astronomy letters Vol. 44; no. 7; pp. 482 - 489
• Main Authors: Lisov, D. I., Litvak, M. L., Kozyrev, A. S., Mitrofanov, I. G., Sanin, A. B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Moscow Pleiades Publishing 01.07.2018; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Algorithms; Astronomy; Astrophysics and Astroparticles; Chlorine; Computer simulation; Curiosity (Mars rover); Data processing; Mars; Mars rovers; Mars surface; Mathematical models; Monte Carlo simulation; Numerical models; Observations and Techniques; Parameter estimation; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Soil analysis; Soil composition; Soil dynamics; DAN; Mars; neutron probing; hydrogen; water
• ISSN: 1063-7737; 1562-6873
• DOI: 10.1134/S1063773718070034

This paper presents the methods of soil parameter estimation from neutron probing data that are used when processing the data from the DAN experiment on the Martian surface. We discuss the data preprocessing steps that enable us to compare experimental data to a Monte-Carlo numerical model, algorithms used to estimate equivalent water and chlorine content for standard soil composition and to dynamically analyse the soil parameters in non-standard cases. We also provide the water and chlorine content estimates and compare them with the SAM experiment data.