PDS_VERSION_ID                    = PDS3
LABEL_REVISION_NOTE               = "2019-09-01, ER, label created"
RECORD_TYPE                       = FIXED_LENGTH
RECORD_BYTES                      = 80
RELEASE_ID                        = 0001
REVISION_ID                       = 0000
OBJECT                            = INSTRUMENT
 INSTRUMENT_HOST_ID               = MEX
 INSTRUMENT_ID                    = VMC

 OBJECT                           = INSTRUMENT_INFORMATION

  INSTRUMENT_NAME                 = "VISUAL MONITORING CAMERA"
  INSTRUMENT_TYPE                 = "IMAGING CAMERA"
  INSTRUMENT_DESC                 = "

    Instrument Overview
    ===================

    The Visual Monitoring Camera (VMC) was included on Mars Express
    originally to monitor the release of the Beagle-2 lander. In 2007,
    VMC was switched on again and used for almost a decade purely
    for outreach purposes. In 2016, collaboration with scientists from
    the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU in Bilbao proved the
    scientific value of the data through studies of plumes
    (SANCHEZ-LAVEGAETAL2015). Thereafter, the VMC was given the status
    of a scientific instrument.

    The VMC is a CMOS (Complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) sensor
    which takes images by default in grayscale, but the VMC is fitted
    with a Bayer Pattern filter so that colour information may be
    extracted in post processing. The camera itself weighs only 430g
    and has a size of 65 x 60 x 108 mm.

    The VMC camera is able to monitor large scale atmospheric
    phenomena, and provides valuable context to other instruments.


    Science Objectives
    ==================

    The VMC addresses two of the main scientific goals of the Mars
    Express mission, these being atmospheric studies and surface-
    atmosphere interactions.

    The foreseen uses of VMC data are:
    - To survey and detect aerosols and clouds at the limb, study
    their seasonal dependence and their aerographical location.
    - Study mesoscale and dynamical atmospheric phenomena such as
    vortices, orographic clouds and dust storms, assessing their
    seasonality and interannual variability.
    - Study of the ice cover evolution of the polar ice caps.
    - Detection of phenomena in the night side of Mars, such as
    twilight clouds (made possible because of VMC's wide field
    of view).

    However, the usage of VMC data for scientific purposes is evolving
    and there may be additional scientific uses for the data not
    listed here.


    Investigators and Other Key Personnel
    =====================================

    Science Team Lead:  A. Sanchez-Lavega, Bilbao (UPV/EHU), Spain
    Science Operations Manager: A. Cardesin-Moinelo, Madrid, Spain
    Science Planning and Data Processing Support: E. Ravanis, Madrid,
    Spain; J. Hernandez-Bernal, Bilbao (UPV/EHU), Spain
    Data Processing Pipeline Development: J. Hernandez-Bernal,
    M. Almeida (Dias Ameida Processing and Systems)
    Mission Operations: S. Wood, ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany
    VMC Science Team: UPV/EHU University of the Basque Country Bilbao,
    A. Sanchez-Lavega, J. Hernandez-Bernal, R. Hueso, Teresa
    del Rio.

   INSTRUMENT OPERATION
   ====================

   The VMC has a number of particular constraints which affect its
   operations. Firstly, the VMC is inclined at a 19 degree axis
   compared with other instruments on MEX, and secondly VMC does not
   obey the same data protocols as other instruments. For these
   reasons, the VMC cannot observe at the same time as
   other instruments.

   VMC observations are taken mainly at apocentre, before and after
   maintenance blocks, when other instruments are not observing.

   The VMC Medium Term Planning (MTP) is conducted at ESAC by the Mars
   Express Science Ground Segment team (ESA), when observations and
   pointing are scheduled and fixed. The Short Term Planning (STP)
   which includes the adjustments of exposure times is done at Bilbao
   (UPV/EHU), as of 2019.

"
END_OBJECT                       = INSTRUMENT_INFORMATION


OBJECT                           = INSTRUMENT_REFERENCE_INFO
  REFERENCE_KEY_ID                = "SANCHEZ-LAVEGAETAL2018"
 END_OBJECT                       = INSTRUMENT_REFERENCE_INFO

END_OBJECT                        = INSTRUMENT


END