Thermal Tides in the Northern Hemisphere of Mars with Mars Global Surveyor Radio Occultation Measurements

Details Thermal Tides in the Northern Hemisphere of Mars with Mars Global Surveyor Radio Occultation Measurements Thermal Tides in the Northern Hemisphere of Mars with Mars Global Surveyor Radio Occultation Measurements

Sep 2006

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006dps....38.7305c&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #38, #73.05

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

We use radio occultation measurements made by Mars Global Surveyor to study thermal tides at high northern latitudes during late spring and summer (Ls = 70-180) of Mars Year 25. We focus on how the wave structure at ionospheric altitudes (100-150 km) evolves with changing season, insolation, and local time. The local time of the measurements drifts steadily from 0300 to 0900, providing leverage for distinguishing between diurnal and semidiurnal modes. We apply standard wave decomposition methods to measurements of refractive index versus longitude at fixed altitude. The spectrum of zonal variation includes strong contributions at k = 1-4, where k is the apparent zonal wave number, with roughly half as strong but still significant components at k > 4. Seasonal variation among the different modes affects the refractive index by up to a factor of four at ionospheric altitudes. The vertical structure of the different modes also varies with season and insolation. These results provide evidence for nonlinear coupling and interference among tidal modes. This work extends the characterization of thermal tides in the upper atmosphere of Mars to include analysis of their evolution and interaction over time scales from a few days to a full season.

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