Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 2005
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2005agufm.p23c..03j&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2005, abstract #P23C-03
Physics
5405 Atmospheres (0343, 1060), 5462 Polar Regions, 5470 Surface Materials And Properties, 6225 Mars
Scientific paper
Evidence for variations in Martian condensate cycles on various timescales is revealed in the Martian Polar Regions. Malin et. al (2002) observed significant changes in the "Swiss cheese" features in the carbon dioxide that comprises the residual south polar cap (RSPC) on time scales of one to three Martian years using images from the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) on Mars Global Surveyor. Subsequently Thomas et al. (2005) identified a sequence of changes in the RSPC that extend over perhaps a few hundred Martian years. The mechanisms that remove and redeposit "Swiss cheese" units within the RSPC are uncertain. James et al. (2005) used images from the High Resolution Camera on HST to set lower limits on the visible and near ultraviolet albedos of the RSPC that are sufficiently large to preserve carbon dioxide frost over a Martian year in the presence of a clear atmosphere. However, atmospheric aerosols absorb visible photons and reradiate the energy in the infra-red portion of the spectrum where the carbon dioxide surface is more absorptive. Bonev et al. (2002) showed that the expected effects of the 2001 global dust storm were consistent with observed variations in surface frost in the seasonal south polar cap. Here we investigate the possibility that the unusually large, near solstice dust storm during 1971 could have effected removal of a "Swiss cheese" unit as observed when Mariner 9 images are compared to MOC images. We model these effects using radiative transfer in a dusty atmosphere bounded by a sublimating carbon dioxide surface. Detailed models of the surface albedo and emissivity from the thermal infra-red to the near ultraviolet and of the scattering parameters of the dust are crucial components of this work.
Bonev Boncho P. .
Hansen Gary B.
James Philip B.
Wolff Maxime
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