VIKING LANDER SOL-AVERAGED FOOTPAD TEMPERATURE SENSOR DATA PAGE

Footpad #2 (bottom image above) contained the Footpad Temperature Sensor, and was buried ~16 cm deep within surface material. Footpad #3 was not buried (top image)

Above are shown the Sol Averaged Viking Lander Footpad Temperature Sensor measurements obtained during the Viking Lander mission.
Footpad temperatures were not necessarily obtained during each mission sol, and for those sols on which footpad temperatures were obtained complete sol coverage was not necessarily obtained, thus the 'average' might be a poor representation of the true sol average, as indicated by the outlier 'hot' and 'cold' values in the graph above, best illustrated during the Ls 0-180 seasonal intervals. The data file provides for each sol on which footpad temperature were obtained the longest time gap during that sol for which measurement was not made, in units of hours.
The temperature values plotted above are available within the vl_avet.dat ASCII file located within the data folder which itself is within the Viking Lander data archive vl_1002. The contents of the vl_avet.dat file and a description of the structure of that file are available in the vl_avet.lbl file which is also located within the data folder within the data archive vl_1002. The VL2 sol-averaged footpad temperature sensor values are also located within the same data file indicated above For information about the Viking Lander Sol Averaged Footpad Temperature Sensor data sets, click here
For information about the Viking Lander mission, click here
For information about the Viking Lander Footpad Temperature instrument, click here