MRO Aerobraking: Observations of the Martian Southern Polar Vortex

Details MRO Aerobraking: Observations of the Martian Southern Polar Vortex MRO Aerobraking: Observations of the Martian Southern Polar Vortex

Sep 2006

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006dps....38.6024m&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #38, #60.24; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 38, p.602

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

The Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft Horizon Sensor Assembly (MHSA) has been in continuous operation since arrival at Mars in 1997, providing 15 µm band atmospheric brightness temperature information for nadir orientation of the spacecraft and incidentally for science. These data now have supported the aerobraking of MRO as well as MGS itself and Odyssey by monitoring global thermal behavior, to provide early detection of dust storms that could cause 'blooming' of the atmosphere, affecting densities at altitudes near 100 km where aerobraking occurs.
We now have data on the southern fall-winter polar vortex for 3 Mars years (2002-2006, Ls 35-105), defined by the locus of steepest latitudinal temperature gradient. The data refer to the lower atmosphere between about 5-30km altitude. The vortex is modeled as a wave 1 and 2 phenomenon. Wave one is generally dominant, with a highly consistent minimum latitude near 50° E. longitude; Hellas is thought to be the cause of this behavior. The vortex diminishes in size with season. Wave 2 is more variable but also consistent between years.
This research was funded by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter project and carried out by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology.

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