Mars atmospheric winds indicated by motion of the Viking landers during parachute descent

Details Mars atmospheric winds indicated by motion of the Viking landers during parachute descent Mars atmospheric winds indicated by motion of the Viking landers during parachute descent

Apr 1993

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1993jgr....98.7461s&link_type=abstract

Journal of Geophysical Research (ISSN 0148-0227), vol. 98, no. E4, p. 7461-7474.

Physics

13

Descent Trajectories, Mars Atmosphere, Planetary Meteorology, Viking Lander Spacecraft, Wind Effects, Atmospheric Turbulence, Wind Direction, Wind Measurement, Mars, Atmosphere, Wind, Motion, Spacecraft Observations, Viking Missions, Landers, Altitude, Turbulence, Velocity, Models, Boundaries, Layers, Terrain, Trajectory, Acceleration, Tdlr Instrument, Doppler Methods, Convection, Theoretical Studies, Thickness, Comparisons, Calculations

Scientific paper

The parachute descent trajectories of the two Viking landers are used to determine winds in the Martian atmosphere at altitudes from 1.5 to 3.5 km. Viking 1 descended within a vigorously convective boundary layer, while Viking 2 at 1.5 km was above the boundary layer. Turbulent velocities in the Viking 1 boundary layer were approximately 3 m/sec, and mean upflow velocity was approximately 1 m/sec. The Viking 2 atmosphere was relatively quiescent, with orderly wind directional variation possibly suggesting the presence of waves. Comparison of the measured winds with a recent global circulation model showed little or no correspondence, probably an indication that the winds were locally controlled. The high sensitivity of winds at altitudes up to several kilometers to terrain slopes as small as a few meters per kilometer would suggest that slope winds may be widely found in the lowest few kilometers of the Martian atmosphere.

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