Observations of near-surface fog at the Phoenix Mars landing site

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Authors
Moores, J.E.
Komguem, L.
Whiteway, J.A.
Lemmon, M.T.
Dickinson, C.
Daerden, F.
Discipline
Earth and related Environmental sciences
Subject
Fog formation
Laser scattering
Lidar laser
Mars landers
Mars landing
Near-surface
Stereo imager
Water columns
Atmospheric aerosols
Fog
Optical radar
Water content
aerosol
estimation method
fog
lidar
Mars
measurement method
numerical model
observational method
precipitation (climatology)
water column
Audience
Scientific
Date
2011Metadata
Show full item recordDescription
The Surface Stereo Imager (SSI) on the Phoenix Mars Lander was able to complement the operations of the LIDAR on four occasions during the mission by observing the laser beam while the LIDAR laser was transmitting. These SSI observations permitted measurement of the scatter from atmospheric aerosols below 200 m where the LIDAR emitter and receiver do not overlap fully. The observed laser scattering was used to estimate the ice-water content (IWC) of near surface fog. Values of IWC up to 1.7 ± 1.0 mg m−3 were observed. Compared to air aloft, fog formation was inhibited near the surface which had accumulated at least 30 ± 24 mg m−2 (0.030 pr-μm) on sol 113. Microphysical modeling shows that when precipitation is included, up to 0.48 pr-μm of water may be present on the surface at the time of measurement. Integrated over the entire night, this represents up to 2.5 pr-μm of water taken up diurnally by the surface, or 6% of the total water column.
Citation
Moores, J.E.; Komguem, L.; Whiteway, J.A.; Lemmon, M.T.; Dickinson, C.; Daerden, F. (2011). Observations of near-surface fog at the Phoenix Mars landing site. , Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 38, Issue 4, L04203, DOI: 10.1029/2010GL046315.Identifiers
scopus: 2-s2.0-79952153064
Type
Article
Peer-Review
Yes
Language
eng