Quantitative analysis of the Martian atmospheric dust cycle: Transported mass, surface dust lifting and sedimentation rates
Metadatos
Mostrar el registro completo del ítemAutor
López Cayuela, María Ángeles; Zorzano-Mier, María Paz; Guerrero Rascado, Juan Luis; Córdoba-Jabonero, C.Editorial
Elsevier
Materia
Data reduction techniques Atmospheres Dynamics
Fecha
2024Referencia bibliográfica
Icarus 409 (2024) 115854 [10.1016/j.icarus.2023.115854]
Patrocinador
Grant PID2019-104205GB-C21 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 (CAMELIA project); Grant PID2022-140180OB-C21 funded by MCIN /AEI /10.13039/501100011033 / FEDER, UE; INTA predoctoral contract programResumen
The atmospheric dust cycle on Mars plays a dominant role in the planetary radiative balance, atmospheric
photochemistry escape, and redistribution of materials on the surface. Although this planetary dust cycle has
been extensively modelled and characterized with both orbital and in situ observations, to date little is known
about the total mass of dust that is circulated, the actual dust lifting and settling rates, and the main dust sources
and sinks. Using orbital global and seasonal measurements of atmospheric dust opacity, a data reduction
methodology that can describe the annual dust redistribution cycle on a planetary scale with 95% accuracy is
presented. The method was applied to the 9.3 μm infrared observations of the Thermal Emission Spectrometer
(TES) aboard the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) during two full Martian Years (MY) 25 and 26, and partly MY 24
and MY 27, disregarding the global dust storm that occurred in MY 25. By comparison with terrestrial observations,
a mass-to-extinction conversion factor of 1.9 ± 0.3 g m -2 is proposed, assuming a dust density of 2.6 g
cm -3. The analysis shows an estimation of 400 1012 g of dust transported globally in the atmosphere for a typical
Mars year, which is comparable to the minimum total annual mass of dust transported on Earth. The methodology
proposed here is based on remote sensing and cannot disentangle completely local surface lifting and
sedimentation rates from dust advection. However, this analysis provides upper bounds which can be compared
with in-situ observations. The analysis of the dust sedimentation cycle suggests that the annual cycle might
produce a dust layer of about 50–100 μm on the surface of some particular zones, as Valle Marineris or Meridiani
Planum. This estimation agrees with in-situ observations of rovers on Mars. The potential dust sources are mainly
located from latitudes of 20ºS to 60ºS. Our results find the 70% of the sources previously identified by the
existing planetary circulation models. This kind of large-scale analysis can be applied to other remote sensing
observations to refine these calculations and study the annual and geographical variability of the dust-mass
transport on Mars.