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Aoki S, Vandaele AC, Daerden F, Villanueva GL, Liuzzi G, Clancy RT, Lopez‐Valverde MA, Brines A, Thomas IR, Trompet L, Erwin JT, Neary L, Robert S, Piccialli A, Holmes JA, Patel MR, Yoshida N, Whiteway J, Smith MD, Ristic B, Bellucci G, Lopez‐Moreno JJ, Fedorova AA. Global Vertical Distribution of Water Vapor on Mars: Results From 3.5 Years of ExoMars-TGO/NOMAD Science Operations. J Geophys Res Planets 2022; 127:e2022JE007231. [PMID: 36583097 PMCID: PMC9787519 DOI: 10.1029/2022je007231] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2022] [Revised: 08/10/2022] [Accepted: 09/07/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
We present water vapor vertical distributions on Mars retrieved from 3.5 years of solar occultation measurements by Nadir and Occultation for Mars Discovery onboard the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, which reveal a strong contrast between aphelion and perihelion water climates. In equinox periods, most of water vapor is confined into the low-middle latitudes. In aphelion periods, water vapor sublimated from the northern polar cap is confined into very low altitudes-water vapor mixing ratios observed at the 0-5 km lower boundary of measurement decrease by an order of magnitude at the approximate altitudes of 15 and 30 km for the latitudes higher than 50°N and 30-50°N, respectively. The vertical confinement of water vapor at northern middle latitudes around aphelion is more pronounced in the morning terminators than evening, perhaps controlled by the diurnal cycle of cloud formation. Water vapor is also observed over the low latitude regions in the aphelion southern hemisphere (0-30°S) mostly below 10-20 km, which suggests north-south transport of water still occurs. In perihelion periods, water vapor sublimated from the southern polar cap directly reaches high altitudes (>80 km) over high southern latitudes, suggesting more effective transport by the meridional circulation without condensation. We show that heating during perihelion, sporadic global dust storms, and regional dust storms occurring annually around 330° of solar longitude (L S) are the main events to supply water vapor to the upper atmosphere above 70 km.
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Affiliation(s)
- S. Aoki
- Department of Complexity Science and EngineeringGraduate School of Frontier SciencesThe University of TokyoKashiwaJapan
- Royal Belgian Institute for Space AeronomyBrusselsBelgium
| | - A. C. Vandaele
- Royal Belgian Institute for Space AeronomyBrusselsBelgium
| | - F. Daerden
- Royal Belgian Institute for Space AeronomyBrusselsBelgium
| | | | - G. Liuzzi
- NASA Goddard Space Flight CenterGreenbeltMDUSA
- Department of PhysicsAmerican UniversityWashingtonDCUSA
| | | | | | - A. Brines
- Instituto de Astrofísica de AndalucíaGlorieta de la AstronomiaGranadaSpain
| | - I. R. Thomas
- Royal Belgian Institute for Space AeronomyBrusselsBelgium
| | - L. Trompet
- Royal Belgian Institute for Space AeronomyBrusselsBelgium
| | - J. T. Erwin
- Royal Belgian Institute for Space AeronomyBrusselsBelgium
| | - L. Neary
- Royal Belgian Institute for Space AeronomyBrusselsBelgium
| | - S. Robert
- Royal Belgian Institute for Space AeronomyBrusselsBelgium
- Institute of Condensed Matter and NanosciencesUniversité catholique de LouvainLouvain‐la‐NeuveBelgium
| | - A. Piccialli
- Royal Belgian Institute for Space AeronomyBrusselsBelgium
| | - J. A. Holmes
- School of Physical SciencesThe Open UniversityMilton KeynesUK
| | - M. R. Patel
- School of Physical SciencesThe Open UniversityMilton KeynesUK
| | | | - J. Whiteway
- Centre for Research in Earth and Space ScienceYork UniversityTorontoONCanada
| | - M. D. Smith
- NASA Goddard Space Flight CenterGreenbeltMDUSA
| | - B. Ristic
- Royal Belgian Institute for Space AeronomyBrusselsBelgium
| | | | - J. J. Lopez‐Moreno
- Instituto de Astrofísica de AndalucíaGlorieta de la AstronomiaGranadaSpain
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Newman CE, de la Torre Juárez M, Pla-García J, Wilson RJ, Lewis SR, Neary L, Kahre MA, Forget F, Spiga A, Richardson MI, Daerden F, Bertrand T, Viúdez-Moreiras D, Sullivan R, Sánchez-Lavega A, Chide B, Rodriguez-Manfredi JA. Multi-model Meteorological and Aeolian Predictions for Mars 2020 and the Jezero Crater Region. Space Sci Rev 2021; 217:20. [PMID: 33583960 PMCID: PMC7868679 DOI: 10.1007/s11214-020-00788-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2020] [Accepted: 12/26/2020] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
UNLABELLED Nine simulations are used to predict the meteorology and aeolian activity of the Mars 2020 landing site region. Predicted seasonal variations of pressure and surface and atmospheric temperature generally agree. Minimum and maximum pressure is predicted at Ls ∼ 145 ∘ and 250 ∘ , respectively. Maximum and minimum surface and atmospheric temperature are predicted at Ls ∼ 180 ∘ and 270 ∘ , respectively; i.e., are warmest at northern fall equinox not summer solstice. Daily pressure cycles vary more between simulations, possibly due to differences in atmospheric dust distributions. Jezero crater sits inside and close to the NW rim of the huge Isidis basin, whose daytime upslope (∼east-southeasterly) and nighttime downslope (∼northwesterly) winds are predicted to dominate except around summer solstice, when the global circulation produces more southerly wind directions. Wind predictions vary hugely, with annual maximum speeds varying from 11 to 19 ms - 1 and daily mean wind speeds peaking in the first half of summer for most simulations but in the second half of the year for two. Most simulations predict net annual sand transport toward the WNW, which is generally consistent with aeolian observations, and peak sand fluxes in the first half of summer, with the weakest fluxes around winter solstice due to opposition between the global circulation and daytime upslope winds. However, one simulation predicts transport toward the NW, while another predicts fluxes peaking later and transport toward the WSW. Vortex activity is predicted to peak in summer and dip around winter solstice, and to be greater than at InSight and much greater than in Gale crater. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11214-020-00788-2.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - M. de la Torre Juárez
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91001 USA
| | - J. Pla-García
- Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA), 28850 Madrid, Spain
- Space Science Institute, Boulder, CO 80301 USA
| | | | | | - L. Neary
- Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy, Brussels, Belgium
| | | | - F. Forget
- Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique/Institut Pierre Simon Laplace (LMD/IPSL), Sorbonne Université, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), École Polytechnique, École Normale Supérieure (ENS), 75005 Paris, France
| | - A. Spiga
- Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique/Institut Pierre Simon Laplace (LMD/IPSL), Sorbonne Université, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), École Polytechnique, École Normale Supérieure (ENS), 75005 Paris, France
- Institut Universitaire de France, 75005 Paris, France
| | | | - F. Daerden
- Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy, Brussels, Belgium
| | - T. Bertrand
- Ames Research Center, Mountain View, CA USA
- LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Université de Paris, 92195 Meudon, France
| | | | - R. Sullivan
- Cornell Center for Astrophysics and Planetary Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 USA
| | | | - B. Chide
- Institut Supérieur de l’Aéronautique et de l’Espace (ISAE), Toulouse, France
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Thomas IR, Vandaele AC, Robert S, Neefs E, Drummond R, Daerden F, Delanoye S, Ristic B, Berkenbosch S, Clairquin R, Maes J, Bonnewijn S, Depiesse C, Mahieux A, Trompet L, Neary L, Willame Y, Wilque V, Nevejans D, Aballea L, Moelans W, De Vos L, Lesschaeve S, Van Vooren N, Lopez-Moreno JJ, Patel MR, Bellucci G. Optical and radiometric models of the NOMAD instrument part II: the infrared channels - SO and LNO. Opt Express 2016; 24:3790-3805. [PMID: 27333621 DOI: 10.1364/oe.24.003790] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
NOMAD is a suite of three spectrometers that will be launched in 2016 as part of the joint ESA-Roscosmos ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter mission. The instrument contains three channels that cover the IR and UV spectral ranges and can perform solar occultation, nadir and limb observations, to detect and map a wide variety of Martian atmospheric gases and trace species. Part I of this work described the models of the UVIS channel; in this second part, we present the optical models representing the two IR channels, SO (Solar Occultation) and LNO (Limb, Nadir and Occultation), and use them to determine signal to noise ratios (SNRs) for many expected observational cases. In solar occultation mode, both the SO and LNO channel exhibit very high SNRs >5000. SNRs of around 100 were found for the LNO channel in nadir mode, depending on the atmospheric conditions, Martian surface properties, and observation geometry.
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