The analog site study carried by Professor Alian Wang and her team contains two basic aspects: (1) Tests the instruments developed for planetary missions; (2) Study the precipitation and preservation of hydrous salts in hyperarid regions.
2012-2015: Subsurface environment and life in the Atacama Desert, Chile ( Supported by NASA ASTEP program, Sobron et al., 2013; Wei et al., 2015)
2012, Prof. Alian Wang and Dr. Pablo Sobron (now at IMS) are deploying two WUSTL-built sensors, the water infrared (WIR) and the Bio-UV-Fluorescence (BUF) imager, onto the salty ice at Laguna de Azufera (Lake of Sulfur) in Atacama, Chile.
2014, Zeo rover (CMU) made a 50km traverse in the Atacama Desert while carrying Mars Microbeam Raman Spectrometer (MMRS/CIRS, jointly developed by the WUSTL-JPL team) that conducted an autonomous analysis of drilled subsurface samples.
2011: Arctic Field expedition at Svalbard, Norway (Supported by McDonnell Center for Space Sciences, Sobron, et al., 2011)
Dr. Pablo Sobron tested WIR (Water-IR) sensor at Svalbard.
2008: Saline playa in Qaidam basin on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China (Supported by McDonnell Center for Space Sciences, Kong et al., 2018; Wang et al., 2018; Sobron et al., 2018; Kong et al., 2010; Mayer et al., 2009; Zheng et al., 2009)
WUSTL-CAGS joint team investigated the vertical cross-sections exposed by mining activities at Dalangtan saline playa.
Professor Alian Wang and Dr. Pablo Sobron made in situ measurements of salt layers using a WIR sensor.
