New Mars Water Cycle Simulations Constrained by Laboratory Microphysical Results

Details New Mars Water Cycle Simulations Constrained by Laboratory Microphysical Results New Mars Water Cycle Simulations Constrained by Laboratory Microphysical Results

Dec 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007agufm.p23a1085c&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2007, abstract #P23A-1085

Physics

3311 Clouds And Aerosols, 3337 Global Climate Models (1626, 4928), 5210 Planetary Atmospheres, Clouds, And Hazes (0343), 6225 Mars

Scientific paper

Water ice clouds have an important role within the martian climate. While these clouds in general contain much less water mass and are optically thinner than their terrestrial counterparts, the thin martian atmosphere is very susceptible to their radiative effects. Furthermore, water ice clouds have a critical role in moderating the atmospheric transport of water vapor (via sedimentation of cloud particles) and dust (via scavenging of dust as cloud nuclei). Understanding the current climate of Mars and its water cycle requires a thorough understanding of martian water ice clouds. The microphysical processes that govern their formation and growth largely determine the effective role of water ice clouds. However, in most studies of martian water ice clouds these microphysics have been either neglected or greatly simplified. In those models that do attempt a more detailed treatment of cloud growth, the implementation of the critical parameters most important to martian clouds, namely the critical supersaturation, contact parameter and growth rate, is still handicapped by having only terrestrial analogs and data sets from which to derive constraints. The work presented here utilizes new laboratory measurements of cloud formation and growth in martian conditions to constrain a sophisticated hybrid-moment cloud model incorporated into the NASA Ames GCM. Significant differences are seen between water cycle predictions using traditional assumptions to those using the new cloud model and laboratory constraints. These differences, including changes in total water vapor and cloud column amount and surface frost distribution and seasonality, and the implication to water cycle processes and observations will be discussed.

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