Thermophysical Properties of the North Polar Residual Cap using Mars Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer

Using derived temperatures from thermal‐infrared instruments aboard orbiting spacecraft, we constrain the thermophysical properties, in the upper few meters, of the north polar residual cap of Mars. In line with previous authors we test a homogeneous thermal model (i.e., depth‐independent thermal properties), simulating water ice of varying porosity against observed temperatures. We find that high thermal inertia (>1,000 J m−2 K−1 s 1/2 or 40% porosity) that densifies with depth into a zero‐porosity ice layer at shallow depths (