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Comparison of the Effects of Regional and Global Dust Storms on the Composition of the Ionized Species of the Martian Upper Atmosphere Using MAVEN. REMOTE SENSING 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/rs14112594] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The densities of three ion species in the Martian upper atmosphere were compared during the MY33 and MY34 Martian regional and global dust storms (RDS 2016 and GDS 2018, respectively) using data from the neutral gas and ion mass spectrometer of the Mars atmosphere and volatile evolution mission. The trends of the ion species and their relative abundances in altitudes compared to some neutral species were examined from 10 September–4 October 2016 and 27 May–18 June 2018, at altitudes of 160–240 km. Both RDS 2016 and GDS 2018 caused variations in the ion species abundance of the upper atmosphere at their onsets in 18–21 September 2016 and 5–8 June 2018 respectively. The densities of O2+, CO2+, and O+ increased during RDS 2016. Meanwhile, O2+ and O+ densities decreased and CO2+ density increased during GDS 2018. Ion species’ relative abundances indicate that during RDS 2016, the increase in O2+ density may be caused by the increase of CO2+ or O+ densities rather than the increase of O or CO2 densities. Meanwhile, the decrease in O2+ density during GDS 2018 may be caused by the decrease of O or O+ densities rather than the decrease in CO2+ or CO2 densities.
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Streeter PM, Sellers G, Wolff MJ, Mason JP, Patel MR, Lewis SR, Holmes JA, Daerden F, Thomas IR, Ristic B, Willame Y, Depiesse C, Vandaele AC, Bellucci G, López‐Moreno JJ. Vertical Aerosol Distribution and Mesospheric Clouds From ExoMars UVIS. JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH. PLANETS 2022; 127:e2021JE007065. [PMID: 35865506 PMCID: PMC9286791 DOI: 10.1029/2021je007065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2021] [Revised: 03/03/2022] [Accepted: 04/07/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The vertical opacity structure of the martian atmosphere is important for understanding the distribution of ice (water and carbon dioxide) and dust. We present a new data set of extinction opacity profiles from the NOMAD/UVIS spectrometer aboard the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, covering one and a half Mars Years (MY) including the MY 34 Global Dust Storm and several regional dust storms. We discuss specific mesospheric cloud features and compare with existing literature and a Mars Global Climate Model (MGCM) run with data assimilation. Mesospheric opacity features, interpreted to be water ice, were present during the global and regional dust events and correlate with an elevated hygropause in the MGCM, providing evidence that regional dust storms can boost transport of vapor to mesospheric altitudes (with potential implications for atmospheric escape). The season of the dust storms also had an apparent impact on the resulting lifetime of the cloud features, with events earlier in the dusty season correlating with longer-lasting mesospheric cloud layers. Mesospheric opacity features were also present during the dusty season even in the absence of regional dust storms, and interpreted to be water ice based on previous literature. The assimilated MGCM temperature structure agreed well with the UVIS opacities, but the MGCM opacity field struggled to reproduce mesospheric ice features, suggesting a need for further development of water ice parameterizations. The UVIS opacity data set offers opportunities for further research into the vertical aerosol structure of the martian atmosphere, and for validation of how this is represented in numerical models.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Graham Sellers
- School of Physical SciencesThe Open UniversityMilton KeynesUK
| | | | | | - Manish R. Patel
- School of Physical SciencesThe Open UniversityMilton KeynesUK
- Space Science and Technology DepartmentScience and Technology Facilities CouncilRutherford Appleton LaboratoryOxfordshireUK
| | | | - James A. Holmes
- School of Physical SciencesThe Open UniversityMilton KeynesUK
| | - Frank Daerden
- Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (IASB‐BIRA)BrusselsBelgium
| | - Ian R. Thomas
- Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (IASB‐BIRA)BrusselsBelgium
| | - Bojan Ristic
- Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (IASB‐BIRA)BrusselsBelgium
| | - Yannick Willame
- Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (IASB‐BIRA)BrusselsBelgium
| | - Cédric Depiesse
- Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (IASB‐BIRA)BrusselsBelgium
| | | | | | - José Juan López‐Moreno
- Instituto de Astrofìsica de Andalucía (IAA)Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)GranadaSpain
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Berera A, Brener DJ. On the force of vertical winds in the upper atmosphere: consequences for small biological particles. Proc Math Phys Eng Sci 2022; 478:20210626. [PMID: 35153615 PMCID: PMC8753144 DOI: 10.1098/rspa.2021.0626] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2021] [Accepted: 12/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
For many decades, vertical winds have been observed at high altitudes of the Earth's atmosphere, in the mesosphere and thermosphere layers. These observations have been used with a simple one-dimensional model to make estimates of possible altitude climbs by biologically sized particles deeper into the thermosphere, in the rare occurrence where such a particle has been propelled to these altitudes. A particle transport mechanism is suggested from the literature on auroral arcs, indicating that an altitude of 120 km could be reached by a nanometre-sized particle, which is higher than the measured 77 km limit on the biosphere. Vertical wind observations in the upper mesophere and lower thermosphere are challenging to make and so we suggest that particles could reach altitudes greater than 120 km, depending on the magnitude of the vertical wind. Applications of the larger vertical winds in the upper atmosphere to astrobiology and climate science are explored.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Berera
- The Higgs Centre for Theoretical Physics, James Clerk Maxwell Building, Peter Guthrie Tait Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FD, UK
| | - D J Brener
- The Higgs Centre for Theoretical Physics, James Clerk Maxwell Building, Peter Guthrie Tait Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FD, UK
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Clancy RT, Wolff MJ, Heavens NG, James PB, Lee SW, Sandor BJ, Cantor BA, Malin MC, Tyler D, Spiga A. Mars Perihelion Cloud Trails as revealed by MARCI: Mesoscale Topographically Focussed Updrafts and Gravity Wave Forcing of High Altitude Clouds. ICARUS 2021; 362:114411. [PMID: 33867569 PMCID: PMC8051166 DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2021.114411] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Daily, global wide angle imaging of Mars clouds in MARCI (MARs Color Imager, (Malin et al., 2008)) ultraviolet and visible bands reveals the spatial/seasonal distributions and physical characteristics of perihelion cloud trails (PCT); a class of high altitude (40-50 km), horizontally extended (200-1000 km, trending W to WSW) water ice clouds formed over specific southern low-to-mid latitude (5S-40S), mesoscale (~50 km) locations during the Mars perihelion, southern summer season. PCT were first reported in association with rim regions of Valles Marineris (Clancy et al., 2009). The current study employs MARCI 2007-2011 imaging to sample the broader distributions and properties of PCT; and indicates several distinct locations of peak occurrences, including SW Arsia Mons, elevated regions of Syria, Solis, and Thaumasia Planitia, along Valles Marineris margins, and the NE rim of Hellas Basin. PCT are present over Mars solar longitudes (L S ) of 210-310°, in late morning to mid afternoon hours (10am-3pm), and are among the brightest and most distinctive clouds exhibited during the perihelion portion of the Mars orbit. Their locations (i.e., eastern margin origins) correspond to strong local elevation gradients, and their timing to peak solar heating conditions (perihelion, subsolar latitudes and midday local times). They occur approximately on a daily basis among all locations identified (i.e., not daily at a single location). Based on cloud surface shadow analyses, PCT form at 40-50 km aeroid altitudes, where water vapor is generally at near-saturation conditions in this perihelion period (e.g. Millour et al., 2014). They exhibited notable absences during periods of planet encircling and regional dust storm activity in 2007 and 2009, respectively, presumably due to reduced water saturation conditions above 35-40 km altitudes associated with increased dust heating over the vertically extended atmosphere (e.g., Neary et al., 2019). PCT exhibit smaller particle sizes (R eff =0.2-0.5μm) than typically exhibited in the lower atmosphere, and incorporate significant fractions of available water vapor at these altitudes. PCT ice particles are inferred to form continuously (over ~4 hours) at their PCT eastern origins, associated with localized updrafts, and are entrained in upper level zonal/meridional winds (towards W or WSW with ~50 m/sec speeds at 40-50 km altitudes) to create long, linear cloud trails. PCT cloud formation is apparently forced in the lower atmosphere (≤10-15 km) by strong updrafts associated with distinctive topographic gradients, such as simulated in mesoscale studies (e.g., Tyler and Barnes, 2015) and indicated by the surface-specific PCT locations. These lower scale height updrafts are proposed to generate vertically propagating gravity waves (GW), leading to PCT formation above ~40 km altitudes where water vapor saturation conditions promote vigorous cloud ice formation. Recent mapping of GW amplitudes at ~25 km altitudes, from Mars Climate Sounder 15 μm radiance variations (Heavens et al., 2020), in fact demonstrates close correspondences to the detailed spatial distributions of observed PCT, relative to other potential factors such as surface albedo and surface elevation (or related boundary layer depths).
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Affiliation(s)
- R Todd Clancy
- Space Science Institute, 4750 Walnut Street, Suite 205, Boulder, CO 80301, USA
| | - Michael J Wolff
- Space Science Institute, 4750 Walnut Street, Suite 205, Boulder, CO 80301, USA
| | - Nicholas G Heavens
- Space Science Institute, 4750 Walnut Street, Suite 205, Boulder, CO 80301, USA
| | - Philip B James
- Space Science Institute, 4750 Walnut Street, Suite 205, Boulder, CO 80301, USA
| | - Steven W Lee
- Space Science Institute, 4750 Walnut Street, Suite 205, Boulder, CO 80301, USA
| | - Brad J Sandor
- Space Science Institute, 4750 Walnut Street, Suite 205, Boulder, CO 80301, USA
| | - Bruce A Cantor
- Malin Space Science Systems, 5880 Pacific Center Blvd, San Diego, CA 92121, USA
| | - Michael C Malin
- Malin Space Science Systems, 5880 Pacific Center Blvd, San Diego, CA 92121, USA
| | - Daniel Tyler
- College of Earth Oceanic and Atmospheric Science, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
| | - Aymeric Spiga
- Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique/Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace (LMD/IPSL), Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, PSL Research University, France
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Stone SW, Yelle RV, Benna M, Lo DY, Elrod MK, Mahaffy PR. Hydrogen escape from Mars is driven by seasonal and dust storm transport of water. Science 2020; 370:824-831. [PMID: 33184209 DOI: 10.1126/science.aba5229] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2019] [Accepted: 09/11/2020] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Mars has lost most of its once-abundant water to space, leaving the planet cold and dry. In standard models, molecular hydrogen produced from water in the lower atmosphere diffuses into the upper atmosphere where it is dissociated, producing atomic hydrogen, which is lost. Using observations from the Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer on the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution spacecraft, we demonstrate that water is instead transported directly to the upper atmosphere, then dissociated by ions to produce atomic hydrogen. The water abundance in the upper atmosphere varied seasonally, peaking in southern summer, and surged during dust storms, including the 2018 global dust storm. We calculate that this transport of water dominates the present-day loss of atomic hydrogen to space and influenced the evolution of Mars' climate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shane W Stone
- Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85711, USA.
| | - Roger V Yelle
- Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85711, USA
| | - Mehdi Benna
- Planetary Environments Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA.,Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science and Technology, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA
| | - Daniel Y Lo
- Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85711, USA
| | - Meredith K Elrod
- Planetary Environments Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA.,Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science and Technology, University of Maryland College Park, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - Paul R Mahaffy
- Solar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
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