Using MGS-TES Observations for Investigating Diabatic Circulation on Mars
Abstract
The Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) on board the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) provides atmospheric column dust opacities and atmospheric vertical temperature profiles. Santee and Crisp (1995) used Mariner 9 IRIS temperature and opacity data to diagnose the mean-meridional diabatic circulation in the Martian atmosphere during late northern winter. In this presentation we employ time-and-zonal mean temperature profiles and column dust opacities from TES in a 1-dimensional radiative transfer model to derive total (solar + IR) radiative heating rates. These heating rates and TES temperature profiles are then used in Santee and Crisp's (1995) diagnostic stream function model to quantify the diabatic circulation for several distinct seasonal periods of the first Martian year of MGS' mapping mission. The importance of this circulation information is that it can be used in conjunction with atmospheric dust column abundances to quantify the flux of dust into and out of the polar regions, possibly offering clues about the time scales upon which polar layered terrains are formed or eroded. This research is funded by NASA's Mars Data Analysis Program (Grant #: NASA/NAG5-11164) and the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium.
Reference: Santee, M. L. and Crisp, D., (1995) `Diagnostic calculations of the circulation in the Martian atmosphere', JGR, 100, 5465-5484.- Publication:
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AAS/Division for Planetary Sciences Meeting Abstracts #35
- Pub Date:
- December 2003
- Bibcode:
- 2003DPS....35.1425B