Planetary atmosphere observation analysis

Abstract:

Direct links between carbonaceous chondrites and their parent bodies in the solar system are rare. The Winchcombe meteorite is the most accurately recorded carbonaceous chondrite fall. Its pre-atmospheric orbit and cosmic-ray exposure age confirm that it arrived on Earth shortly after ejection from a primitive asteroid. Recovered only hours after falling, the composition of the Winchcombe meteorite is largely unmodified by the terrestrial environment. It contains abundant hydrated silicates formed during fluid-rock reactions, and carbon- and nitrogen-bearing organic matter including soluble protein amino acids. The near-pristine hydrogen isotopic composition of the Winchcombe meteorite is comparable to the terrestrial hydrosphere, providing further evidence that volatile-rich carbonaceous asteroids played an important role in the origin of Earth’s water.

Abstract:

The mid-infrared channel of the Atmospheric Chemistry Suite (ACS MIR) onboard the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter is capable of observing the infrared absorption of ozone (O3) in the atmosphere of Mars. During solar occulations, the 003←000 band (3,000-3,060 cm−1) is observed with spectral sampling of ∼0.045 cm−1. Around the equinoxes in both hemispheres and over the southern winters, we regularly observe around 200–500 ppbv of O3 below 30 km. The warm southern summers, near perihelion, produce enough atmospheric moisture that O3 is not detectable at all, and observations are rare even at high northern latitudes. During the northern summers, water vapor is restricted to below 10 km, and an O3 layer (100–300 ppbv) is visible between 20 and 30 km. At this same time, the aphelion cloud belt forms, condensing water vapor and allowing O3 to build up between 30 and 40 km. A comparison to vertical profiles of water vapor and temperature in each season reveals that water vapor abundance is controlled by atmospheric temperature, and H2O and O3 are anti-correlated as expected. When the atmosphere cools, over time or over altitude, water vapor condenses (observed as a reduction in its mixing ratio) and the production of odd hydrogen species is reduced, which allows O3 to build up. Conversely, warmer temperatures lead to water vapor enhancements and ozone loss. The LMD Mars Global Climate Model is able to reproduce vertical structure and seasonal changes of temperature, H2O, and O3 that we observe. However, the observed O3 abundance is larger by factors between 2 and 6, indicating important differences in the rate of odd-hydrogen photochemistry.

Abstract:

To understand the evolving martian water cycle, a global perspective of the combined vertical and horizontal distribution of water is needed in relation to supersaturation and water loss and how it varies spatially and temporally. The global vertical water vapor distribution is investigated through an analysis that unifies water, temperature and dust retrievals from several instruments on multiple spacecraft throughout Mars Year (MY) 34 with a global circulation model. During the dusty season of MY 34, northern polar latitudes are largely absent of water vapor below 20 km with variations above this altitude due to transport from mid-latitudes during a global dust storm, the downwelling branch of circulation during perihelion season and the intense MY 34 southern summer regional dust storm. Evidence is found of supersaturated water vapor breaking into the northern winter polar vortex. Supersaturation above around 60 km is found for most of the time period, with lower altitudes showing more diurnal variation in the saturation state of the atmosphere. Discrete layers of supersaturated water are found across all latitudes. The global dust storm and southern summer regional dust storm forced water vapor at all latitudes in a supersaturated state to 60-90 km where it is more likely to escape from the atmosphere. The reanalysis data set provides a constrained global perspective of the water cycle in which to investigate the horizontal and vertical transport of water throughout the atmosphere, of critical importance to understand how water is exchanged between different reservoirs and escapes the atmosphere.

Abstract:

Temperature and density in the upper Martian atmosphere, above ∼100 km, are key diagnostic parameters to study processes of the species' escape, investigate the impact of solar activity, model the atmospheric circulation, and plan spacecraft descent or aerobraking maneuvers. In this paper, we report vertical profiling of carbon dioxide (CO2) density and temperature from the Atmospheric Chemistry Suite (ACS) solar occultations onboard the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. A strong CO2 absorption band near 2.7 μm observed by the middle infrared spectrometric channel (ACS MIR) allows the retrieval of the atmospheric thermal structure in an unprecedentedly large altitude range, from 20 to 180 km. We present the latitudinal and seasonal climatology of the thermal structure for 1.5 Martian years (MYs), from the middle of MY 34 to the end of MY 35. The results show the variability of distinct atmospheric layers, such as a mesopause (derived from 70 to 145 km) and homopause, changing from 90 to 100 km at aphelion to 120–130 km at perihelion. Some short-term homopause fluctuations are also observed depending on the dust activity.

Abstract:

Carbon monoxide is a non-condensable gas in the Martian atmosphere produced by the photolysis of CO2. Its abundance responds to the condensation and sublimation of CO2 from the polar caps, resulting in seasonal variations of the CO mixing ratio. ACS onboard the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter have measured CO in infrared bands by solar occultation. Here we provide the first long-term monitoring of the CO vertical distribution at the altitude range from 0 to 80 km for 1.5 Martian years from Ls = 163° of MY34 to the end of MY35. We obtained a mean CO mixing ratio of ∼960 ppmv at latitudes from 45°S to 45°N and altitudes below 40 km, mostly consistent with previous observations. We found a strong enrichment of CO near the surface at Ls = 100–200° in high southern latitudes with a layer of 3,000–4,000 ppmv, corresponding to local depletion of CO2. At equinoxes we found an increase of the CO mixing ratio above 50 km to 3,000–4,000 ppmv at high latitudes of both hemispheres explained by the downwelling flux of the Hadley circulation on Mars, which drags the CO enriched air. General circulation models tend to overestimate the intensity of this process, bringing too much CO. The observed minimum of CO in the high and mid-latitudes southern summer atmosphere amounts to 700–750 ppmv, agreeing with nadir measurements. During the global dust storm of MY34, when the H2O abundance peaks, we see less CO than during the calm MY35, suggesting an impact of HOx chemistry on the CO abundance.