Measurements of the WISDOM prototype (Alps)
Date: 24 June 2011
Depicts: Measurements of a glacier in the French Alps, taken with a prototype of WISDOM during field tests.
Copyright: LATMOS
WISDOM (Water Ice and Subsurface Deposit Observation on Mars) is a subsurface sounding radar, and forms part of the ExoMars rover instrument suite. WISDOM will provide a detailed view of the structure of the subsurface of the Red Planet by studying the upper layers of the Martian crust.
An instrument prototype, representative in terms of design, size, mass and power, has been developed. It has been tested successfully in a laboratory environment by sounding known targets (plates and spheres) to validate its design specifications and verify its functionality. Tests in quasi-realistic conditions have shown the instrument performance to be satisfactory. A field test was performed in a environment, on a glacier in the Alps near Chamonix, France. The prototype carried out measurements down to more than 15 metres and detected structures with deep cracks.
