The Climatology of Mars Thermospheric Polar Warming at Aphelion
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Authors
Thiemann, E.M.B.
Trompet, L.
Bougher, S.W.
Yiğit, E.
Gasperini, F.
Montabone, L.
Gonzalez-Galindo, F.
Eparvier, F.G.
Vandaele, A.C.
Discipline
Physical sciences
Subject
Mars aeronomie
thermosphere
polar warming
solar occultations
Audience
Scientific
Date
2024Metadata
Show full item recordDescription
Thermospheric polar warming (TPW) is observed conclusively for the first time at Mars during the aphelion/Northern Summer season using solar occultation (SO) measurements made by the Extreme Ultraviolet Monitor (EUVM) onboard the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) orbiter. Aphelion data from Mars Year (MY) 33–36 are analyzed revealing TPW to be present at dawn but not dusk. This is consistent with an earlier analysis of accelerometer data from the Mars Global Surveyor that showed aphelion TPW is also not evident at 15 hr local time. Separating the data into individual MYs reveals TPW is observed during each year except MY 35. TPW is markedly intensified during MY 34, which is attributed to enhanced circulation caused by a northern-hemisphere dust storm coinciding with the observations. Simulations from the Mars Climate Database predict the large TPW enhancement in MY 34 relative to MY 33 observed by EUVM SO, but predicts approximately 20K less overall TPW for both years than that observed by EUVM SO.
Citation
Thiemann, E.M.B.; Trompet, L.; Bougher, S.W.; Yiğit, E.; Gasperini, F.; Montabone, L.; Gonzalez-Galindo, F.; Eparvier, F.G.; Vandaele, A.C. (2024). The Climatology of Mars Thermospheric Polar Warming at Aphelion. , Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 51, Issue 5, e2023GL107140, DOI: 10.1029/2023GL107140.Identifiers
url:
Type
Article
Peer-Review
Yes
Language
eng