Integration of MGS Observations of the 2001 Global Dust Storm on Mars

Details Integration of MGS Observations of the 2001 Global Dust Storm on Mars Integration of MGS Observations of the 2001 Global Dust Storm on Mars

Dec 2006

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006agufm.p23a0049n&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2006, abstract #P23A-0049

Physics

0343 Planetary Atmospheres (5210, 5405, 5704), 5405 Atmospheres (0343, 1060), 5445 Meteorology (3346)

Scientific paper

MGS-MOC, TES (nadir and limb) and MHSA observations of the 2001 global dust storm have been integrated in order to generate a more complete picture of the evolution of the global dust storm of 2001. Our goal is to better understand the evolution of the atmosphere during the initiation and growth phases of the storm. Our data include MOC daily global weather maps, TES measurements of atmospheric temperature and 9-micron dust opacity, and MHSA measurements of middle atmosphere temperatures. We are also conducing simulations of the storm using the NASA-Ames Mars General Circulation Model (MGCM) to better understand the underlying dynamics. The storm had a number of phases, including: (1) the initiation and early growth around the Hellas region; (2) the development of new lifting centers downstream once the Hellas storm had been established for several sols; (3) the growth of the storm into global-scale; and (4) the decay phase. Here, we focus on the first stage, which culminated in the development of a strong stationary wave one feature in the temperature field (measured by both TES and MHSA). During the first phase of the storm, Cantor used MOC visible imagery to identify 10 local storms in the Hellas region that were associated with a series of seven pulses over a period of 15 sols. The majority of the storms originated in the southwest sector of Hellas and moved northeastward. Our analysis of TES thermal data at 3.7 mb shows the presence of eastward-traveling waves in the longitude sector 0-60E at 60S with a period of about two sols. We hypothesize that these are eastward-traveling baroclinic eddies, and that they serve to precondition the atmosphere, leading to the regional-scale Hellas dust storm around Ls=184. Initial examination of MGCM output shows that similar disturbances are present in the simulation, although the period is somewhat longer (about five sols). Superimposed TES 2pm temperature analyses and MOC imagery for the period Ls=187-188 shows clearly that the lifted dust in the Hellas sector had led to the development of a large-amplitude stationary wave in the temperature field. This feature is most evident between the 0.11mb and 0.83 mb levels, with a peak-to-trough amplitude of ~30 K (at 0.5mb). MGCM simulations reproduce this feature very well. The meridional winds associated with this wave one pattern cause dust to be advected southward over the polar cap, as seen in MOC imagery.

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