Water Vapour in the atmosphere of Mars: a proposal for the Mars international reference atmosphere

A wealth of data about the atmospheric water cycle on Mars has been accumulated due to extensive observations and modeling. Water vapour appears to be the most variable trace gas in the Martian atmosphere that implies its involvement in various physical and chemical processes on the planet. The paper will give an overview of possible inputs to the Mars International Reference Atmosphere (MIRA) based on available ground-based observations, re-analysis of the MAWD/Viking and IRIS/Mariner-9 data, ISM/Phobos-2 studies, recent observations of Martian water cycle by TES/MGS, first results of the Mars Express mission, and numerical modeling of the water cycle.