In situ, Surface-deployed Distributed Instruments for Planetary Science: Scientific Opportunities and Technology Feasibility

Abstract In this paper, we assess the scientific promise and technology feasibility of in situ distributed instruments for planetary surface and atmospheric science. A distributed instrument is an instrument designed to collect spatially and temporally correlated data from multiple networked, geographically distributed point sensors. Distributed instruments are ubiquitous in Earth science, where they are routinely employed for weather and climate science, seismic studies and resource prospecting, and detection of industrial emissions. However, to date, their adoption in planetary science has been minimal. It is natural to ask whether this lack of adoption is driven by low potential to address high-priority questions in planetary science, immature technology, or both. To address this question, we survey high-priority planetary science questions that are uniquely well suited to distributed, surface-deployed, in situ instruments. We identify four areas of research where such distributed instruments hold promise to unlock answers that are largely inaccessible to monolithic sensors or remote sensing approaches, or can complement existing approaches, namely, in weather and climate studies; localization of seismic events on rocky and icy bodies; localization of trace gas emissions; and magnetometry studies of internal planetary composition. Next, we survey enabling technologies for distributed sensors and assess their maturity. We identify sensor placement (including descent and landing on planetary surfaces), power, and instrument autonomy as three key areas requiring further investment to enable future distributed instruments. Overall, this work shows that distributed instruments hold great promise for planetary science, and paves the way for follow-up studies of future distributed instruments for solar system science.