The winter polar vortices on Mars are annular in terms of their potential vorticity (PV) structure, a phenomenon identified in observations, reanalysis and some numerical simulations. Some recent modeling studies have proposed that condensation of atmospheric carbon dioxide at the winter pole is a contributing factor to maintaining the annulus through the release of latent heat. Dust and topographic forcing are also known to be causes of internal and interannual variability in the polar vortices. However, coupling between these factors remains uncertain, and previous studies of their impact on vortex structure and variability have been largely limited to a single Martian global climate model (MGCM). Here, by further developing a novel MGCM, we decompose the relative roles of latent heat and dust as drivers for the variability and structure of the northern Martian polar vortex. We also consider how Martian topography modifies the driving response. By also analyzing a reanalysis dataset we show that there is significant dependence in the polar vortex structure and variability on the observations assimilated. In both model and reanalysis, high atmospheric dust loading (such as that seen during a global dust storm) can disrupt the vortex, cause the destruction of PV in the low-mid altitudes (> 0.1 hPa), and significantly reduce spatial and temporal vortex variability. Through our simulations, we find that the combination of dust and topography primarily drives the eddy activity throughout the Martian year, and that although latent heat release can produce an annular vortex, it has a relatively minor effect on vortex variability.
Martian cloud climatology and life cycle extracted from Mars Express OMEGA spectral images
我们从覆盖7个火星年(MY 26-32)的欧米茄数据中提取了火星水冰云气候学。我们得到了两个产品,反向冰云指数(ICIR)和云像素百分比(PCP),表示规则网格(1°经度x 1°纬度x 1° Ls x 1小时当地时间)上的平均云厚度和星云度。ICIR已经被证明是来自火星气候数据库的水冰柱的代理。PCP确认了ICIR绘制的主要云结构的位置,并提供了更准确的云量图像。我们观察到在希腊平原,月球平原和远日点带的大火山上有更密集的云层覆盖。这是第一次,由于火星快车不在太阳同步轨道上,我们可以通过结合7年的观测来探索特定季节的云日周期。然而,由于偏心轨道,时间范围仍然有限。该数据集的其他局限性是它的尺寸小,冰云和霜冻之间的难以区分,以及表面覆盖对数据不确定性的影响。然而,我们可以通过对更大区域的数据进行平均来研究云的日生命周期:从特定的地形特征(覆盖经度和纬度的几度)到大的气候带(所有纬度)。我们发现,在热带地区,在北夏至前后,昼夜热潮汐调节了云的丰度,中午前后云的丰度减少。在北半球中纬度地区,在冬季(Ls=260-30°),主要在早晨和中午前后观测到与北极罩边缘相对应的云。在克里斯平原,在北方的冬季,低洼的晨雾在下午消散得越来越早。在Argyre上空,整个白天都有云,有两个时段,Ls = 30和160°。
Explaining Bright Radar Reflections Below The Martian South Polar Layered Deposits Without Liquid Water
最近在火星南极层状沉积物(SPLD)下发现了异常明亮的雷达反射,这引发了新的猜测,即冰帽下可能存在液态水。在火星快车轨道飞行器上的火星高级地下和电离层探测雷达(Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding,MARSIS)获得的数据中发现的反射被解释为来自潮湿材料甚至是地下池塘和湖泊的反射,类似于在地球冰盖下发现的反射。然而,最近的研究已经质疑了在SPLD以下熔化和保持液态水的可行性。在这里,我们比较雷达模拟MARSIS观测,以提出一个替代假设:明亮的反射是多层边界之间的干扰的结果,没有液态水存在。这种新的解释与现代火星上的已知条件更加一致。
Interannual observations and quantification of summertime H2O ice deposition on the Martian CO2 ice south polar cap
2004年,OMEGA(Observatoire pour l 'Mineralogie,l' Eau les Glaces et l 'Activite)在火星南极冰冠上观测到了水冰的光谱特征(Bibring等人,2004年)。三年后,欧米茄仪器被用来发现在南半球夏季沉积在极冠上的水冰(Langevin等人,2007年)。然而,这些水冰特征的时间和空间变化尚未被探索,这些水沉积物的起源仍然是一个重要的科学问题。为了研究这个问题,我们使用了火星勘测轨道飞行器(MRO)航天器上的火星紧凑型侦察成像光谱仪(CRISM)仪器在南半球夏季四个火星年期间的观测结果来寻找水冰量的变化。我们在下面报告说,对于我们观察到的冰帽,南部冰帽上的H2O冰特征的大小在整个夏天都在稳步上升,特别是在冰帽的西端。沉积的空间范围与目前对南极冰帽上水冰沉积的最佳模拟不一致(Montmessin等人,2007年)。水冰特征的增加很可能是由于大气中H2O冰的沉积造成的,并且一组不寻常的条件使得使用CRISM对这种传输通量的量化接近理想。我们计算了一个“最小表观”的沉积量对应于一个薄的H2O冰层的0.2毫米(70%的孔隙度)。这些冰的沉积量占火星大气水总量的0.6%-6%。我们将我们的“最小表观”量化与以前的估计进行比较。这种沉积过程也可能对南部二氧化碳冰帽的形成和稳定性产生影响,因此在现代火星的气候收支中发挥着重要作…
On the impact of the vertical structure of Martian water ice clouds on nadir atmospheric retrievals from simultaneous EMM/EXI and TGO/ACS-MIR observations
Detection of propadiene (CH$_2$CCH$_2$), propene (C$_3$H$_6$) and non-detection of propane (C$_3$H$_8$) in Jupiter's northern polar stratosphere
Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology(喷气推进实验室/加州理工学院);Southwest Research Institute(西南研究院);Planetary Systems Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center(行星系统实验室,NASA戈达德太空飞行中心);Yale University(耶鲁大学);Aix-Marseille Université(艾克斯-马赛大学);Space Science Institute(空间科学研究所);University of Leicester(莱斯特大学);University of Oxford(牛津大学)