Venus, our closest neighbour after the Moon, is an important planet to study: although it is very similar in size and Sun-distance when compared to the Earth, both planets evolved in very different manners. For this reason, studying the structure, dynamics, composition and chemistry of the Venus atmosphere is an major aspect of planetary science, as it helps to understand more about our Solar System in general. Indeed, many Venus atmosphere related questions remain unanswered, and this projects aims to address important open key questions. This project proposes a study of the Venus mesosphere and thermosphere at the terminator region, using solar occultation transmittance spectra that were measured by the SOIR instrument on board the ESA Venus Express spacecraft (2006-2014). The objectives of the proposed research project are (i) to characterize the two main Venus chemistry cycles, i.e. the sulfur and the carbon oxide cycles, and the deuterium/hydrogen ratio, and (ii) to study the wave dynamics, while (iii) making the results available to the community based on an open-science approach. Even though many species and temperature vertical profiles were retrieved during the mission timeframe using the SOIR spectra (CO2, CO, H2O, HDO, HCl, HF, SO2), some species absorbing in the SOIR wavenumber range were not studied (OCS, H2S, DCl, DF, NH3, HBr and HI); no cross-correlations between these species, which are involved in the different Venus chemical cycles, were examined. Furthermore, the observed short-term extreme variability in terms of species relative abundances and thermal structure was never characterized. We propose here (1) to complete the SOIR profiles molecular database, (2) to study the dependence between the species that contribute to the same chemical cycles and to characterize the variability, (3) to release the data products using existing open-base solutions and to disseminate the results through outreach activities.

International scientific and commercial interests in exploration missions to solar system bodies such as the Moon, asteroids and comets have increased significantly. Several exploration missions are planned in the near future, in particular to the Moon. One major environmental constraint during those missions is the presence of charged dust-like particles, as they can degrade equipment by accelerating wear. Moreover, exposure to and inhalation of dust can have a range of toxic effects on human explorers. There is a recognised need for developing efficient dust mitigation systems. To develop such systems, (i) better knowledge and models of dust charging and transportation in those environments are needed, and (ii) technologies to move charged dust particles in a controlled way must be validated. The objective of the DUSTER project is to develop an instrument for in situ analysis of dust-like particles and their transport in the context of planetary and small body exploration missions. This instrument will be designed to measure for which set of parameters (electrostatic charging of particles, ambient plasma, imposed electric field) dust-like particles can be moved. The technology developed can serve as a basis to design electrostatic dust mitigation devices and dust sample-collecting equipment. The above-mentioned parameters will be determined theoretically and supported by laboratory-based measurements for particles with different properties and under different conditions. Following the requirements derived from the simulations and laboratory measurements, the individual sub-units and units of the proposed instrument will be designed. An integrated breadboard version of the instrument will be manufactured and tested with the same laboratory setup. The target is to reach TRL 4. The development, manufacturing, testing and validation of the instrument will be a joint effort between scientific, engineering and industrial teams with a strong interdisciplinary approach.

Contrails and aviation-induced cloudiness effects on climate change show large uncertainties since they are subject to meteorological, regional, and seasonal variations. Indeed, under some specific circumstances, aircraft can generate anthropogenic cirrus with cooling. Thus, the need for research into contrails and aviation-induced cloudiness and its associated uncertainties to be considered in aviation climate mitigation actions becomes unquestionable. We will blend cutting-edge AI techniques (deep learning) and climate science with application to the aviation domain, aiming at closing (at least partially) de existing gap in terms of understanding aviation-induced climate impact. The overall purpose of E-CONTRAIL project is to develop artificial neural networks (leveraging remote sensing detection methods) for the prediction of the climate impact derived from contrails and aviation-induced cloudiness, contributing, thus, to a better understanding of the non-CO2 impact of aviation on global warming and reducing their associated uncertainties as essential steps towards green aviation. Specifically, the objectives of E-CONTRAIL are: O-1 to develop remote sensing algorithms for the detection of contrails and aviation-induced cloudiness. O-2 to quantify the radiative forcing of ice clouds based on remote sensing and radiative transfer methods. O-3 to use of deep learning architectures to generate AI models capable of predicting the radiative forcing of contrails based on data-archive numerical weather forecasts and historical traffic O-4 to assess the climate impact and develop a visualization tool in a dashboard Upon successful achievement of the objectives described above, we ambition to provide aviation stakeholders with an early and accurate (thus, reducing the associated uncertainty) prediction of those volumes of airspace with the conditions for large global warming impact due to contrails and aviation-induced cloudiness.

The goal of the ROADMAP project is to better understand the role and impact of dust and clouds on the Martian atmosphere. Although dust is present throughout the Martian atmosphere, its abundance and physical properties are still poorly defined. Similarly the impact of dust on the composition, structure and dynamics of the atmosphere is only beginning to be addressed. Specifically, accurate knowledge of the characteristics of dust and ice clouds is crucial for the interpretation of the remote sensing observations, both in the infrared and the ultraviolet spectral regions. The ROADMAP project employs an integrated scientific approach including; laboratory simulations, modelling of specific phenomena, analysis of space data and Global Circulation Modelling. This will improve our vision of the Martian atmosphere and provide a new generation of high-level data, increasing the science return of the past and current missions to Mars as well as shaping future planetary missions. We will focus on two European missions which are still active around the Red Planet and in particular make use of the ExoMars TGO instrument NOMAD, which has been optimized for the detection of trace gases, dust and clouds in the Martian atmosphere. This project is therefore both timely and highly relevant to the SPACE-30-SCI-2020 call by addressing scientific data exploitation and the objective of increasing the science return of specific European space missions.