Recommended values and correlations of thermophysical properties for comet modelling

Ivanka Pelivan, German Aerospace Center DLR Berlin, Berlin, Germany, Jens Biele, German Aerospace Center DLR Cologne, Cologne, Germany, Ekkehard Kuhrt, DLR, Berlin, Germany, Bjorn Johan Ragnar Davidsson, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States, Mathieu Choukroun, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, United States and Claudia J Alexander, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States
Abstract:
In the years following the arrival of ESA’s Rosetta probe at comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko in Summer 2014, the expected plethora of orbiter and lander data will certainly lead to very detailed modelling of thermally driven comet activity and other phenomena.

We review the most frequently used thermophysical data for cometary volatiles (water, CO, CO2) and dust and recommend precise correlations for the widest temperature ranges, including uncertainty estimates. The temperature dependence of surface material thermal inertia is estimated.

The results of comparisons between different modelling teams performed in preparation of Rosetta's mission is discussed.

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