Seasonal Re-distribution of Atmospheric Mass on Mars Detected From Radio Tracking of Mars Global Surveyor

Details Seasonal Re-distribution of Atmospheric Mass on Mars Detected From Radio Tracking of Mars Global Surveyor Seasonal Re-distribution of Atmospheric Mass on Mars Detected From Radio Tracking of Mars Global Surveyor

Dec 2002

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002agufm.g11a..12z&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2002, abstract #G11A-12

Physics

1227 Planetary Geodesy And Gravity (5420, 5714, 6019), 6225 Mars

Scientific paper

Space geodetic techniques pioneered for application to Earth dynamics are now achieving a level of accuracy that enable analog studies of the terrestrial planets. Using X-band radio tracking of the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, we have measured temporal changes the long-wavelength gravity field of Mars that correlate, to first order, with the pattern expected due to the seasonal re-distribution of carbon dioxide between the atmosphere and surface. Detecting these gravity field changes requires isolating perturbations in the velocity of the MGS spacecraft of ~5 μs-1. A comparison of very low degree gravity coefficients determined every 5 days shows an annual variation in the relative position of Mars' center-of-mass (C1,0 spherical harmonic gravity coefficient) is 4% smaller in amplitude and 21° different in phase compared to the signal predicted by a simulation of CO2 exchange over a typical Mars year by the Ames General Circulation Model (GCM). The temporal change in the planetary flattening (C2,0 spherical harmonic coefficient) displays both annual and semi-annual components that are more complex than predicted by the GCM. These temporal gravity measurements can be used as a proxy for the global re-distribution of CO2 and can be related to the mean global atmospheric pressure. Results for the MGS mapping mission are generally consistent with but more complex than predicted by the GCM and may provide a measure of the stochastic variability of the seasonal process of volatile exchange.

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