Mathematics – Probability
Scientific paper
Dec 2005
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2005agufm.p21e..04h&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2005, abstract #P21E-04
Mathematics
Probability
3346 Planetary Meteorology (5445, 5739), 5445 Meteorology (3346), 5464 Remote Sensing, 6225 Mars
Scientific paper
The Radio Science (RS) investigation of Mars Global Surveyor has collected more than 16,000 radio occultation profiles of the neutral atmosphere, including more than 10,000 profiles at mid-to-high latitudes of the northern hemisphere. Key attributes include fine vertical resolution and a unique measure of geopotential height on surfaces of constant pressure, which offer new insight into the behavior of transient eddies, particularly in the lowest scale height above the surface. We identified and characterized the dominant eddies through ``space-time'' analysis of both geopotential and temperature measurements. Results include the eddy amplitude, zonal wave number, and period. Eddy activity appears at zonal wave numbers 1--3. Variations in the amplitudes of these modes tend to be anticorrelated, particularly at wave numbers 1 and 3, so that a large amplitude in one mode is often accompanied by a small amplitude in the others. The wave number of the dominant mode changes at intervals of 40--60 sols. These results evoke the ``baroclinic wave transitions'' that appear in Viking Lander pressure measurements [ Collins et al., Icarus 120, 344-357, 1996], and there is a close resemblance between the transient eddies in the two sets of observations. In the RS measurements, eddy activity near the surface is particularly intense in two seasonal windows, one in early autumn (Ls ≍ 180°--240°) and the other in late winter (Ls ≍ 300°--360°), separated by a lull around winter solstice. At Ls=190°--200° of Mars Year 26 (MY 26), the dominant eddies at 69°N have a zonal wave number of 2, a period of 3.0 sols, and an amplitude of ~10 K at 610 Pa. Meridional winds implied by geostrophic balance at 610 Pa have an average amplitude of 10--15 m s-1 and a 10% probability of exceeding 20~m~s-1. At Ls=315°--335° of MY 25, the dominant eddies at 64°N have a zonal wave number of 3, a period of 2.3 sols, and an amplitude of ~6~K. Meridional winds at 610 Pa have an average amplitude of 10-15~m~s-1 and an 8% probability of exceeding 25~m~s-1. Through the lifting and advection of dust, these transient eddies probably contribute to seasonal variations in dust opacity.
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