MarSCoDe Passive Reflectance Spectroscopy Analysis for Martian Minerals

Mineral
analysis is one of the most vital missions in Mars exploration.
Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is suitable for in situ
analysis of minerals on Mars because of its ability to substantially
remove dust and analyze most major elements. However, the longevity
of active LIBS technology is susceptible to the Martian atmosphere
and environmental temperature. Assuming that the LIBS laser had a
malfunction, reflectance spectra of surface materials could be acquired
in passive mode to analyze minerals and rocks, as is done on the ChemCam
and SuperCam instruments on the Mars Science Laboratory and Mars 2020
rover missions, respectively. In addition, passive reflectance can
provide constraints on the mineral structure and depositional environment
of the rocks encountered by the rover. In this work, we present a
passive reflectance spectra method based on the MarSCoDe ground simulator
using the spectrometer module of the prototype system to test its
ability to acquire visible reflectance spectra. The work presents
the reflectance spectra of 24 National Reference Materials from which
we computed the spectral parameters of minerals and rocks. Chemometrics
based on particle swarm optimization-support vector classification
(PSO-SVC) are used to accomplish the recognition of various materials.
The results show that the passive spectral method could acquire targeted
visible reflectance information and identify materials effectively.