Ice clouds over Martian volcanoes: KRFM experimental data (Phobos project).

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Mars: Spectrophotometry, Mars Atmosphere: Clouds

Scientific paper

Results of the analysis of spectrophotometric observations of Mars, conducted in February - March, 1989 from the Phobos-2 space station while passing above the mountain massifs Arsia Mons and Pavonis Mons, are presented. The measurements, were made in 7 narrow spectral bands from 315 to 550 nm. An increase in brightness at short wavelengths over these regions can be explained by the presence of condensation clouds consisting of water-ice particles. By using model calculations with the Mie theory for spherical particles, the author finds the sizes of these ice particles and evaluates the influence of the particles' irregular shape, and of the possible presence of a silicate nucleus in them, on the properties of the clouds. There are at least two possibilities, which can also be realized simultaneously: 1) the clouds consist of fine particles with an effective radius of 0.5 μm and their optical thickness is ≍0.2; 2) the particles making up the clouds are somewhat larger (effective radius about 1 μm) and the optical thickness of these clouds is 0.07 - 0.1. The clouds of small ice particles are situated over the volcanoes and (or) the clouds consisting of larger particles are lower than the summits, at altitudes of about 15 km. The mass of the ice in a column of unit cross section is estimated as between 3.5·10-6 and 5.0·10-6g cm-2, as a function of the assumed sizes and shapes of the cloud particles.

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