Viking radio occultation measurements of the atmosphere and topography of Mars - Data acquired during 1 Martian year of tracking

Details Viking radio occultation measurements of the atmosphere and topography of Mars - Data acquired during 1 Martian year of tracking Viking radio occultation measurements of the atmosphere and topography of Mars - Data acquired during 1 Martian year of tracking

Dec 1979

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1979jgr....84.8443l&link_type=abstract

Journal of Geophysical Research, vol. 84, Dec. 30, 1979, p. 8443-8456. NASA-supported research.

Mathematics

Logic

26

Electron Density Profiles, Mars Atmosphere, Mars Surface, Radio Occultation, Radio Tracking, Topography, Viking Orbiter Spacecraft, Atmospheric Pressure, Data Processing, Dust Storms, Ionospheric Electron Density, Mars Photographs, Planetary Ionospheres, Planetary Meteorology, Refractivity

Scientific paper

The results of one Martian year of radio occultation measurements of the atmosphere and topography of Mars obtained using the Viking Orbiters are briefly summarized. Determinations of the vertical distribution of tropospheric gas refractivity and ionospheric electron density obtained from atmospheric Doppler frequency perturbations of the S and X band radio tracking frequencies indicate large meteorological variations, with near-surface temperatures ranging from 150 to 250 K, 5-km atmospheric pressure ranging from 3.5 to 4.8 mbar, inversion layers over the polar caps and dust storms, and seasonal pressure variations. Double- and single-layered upper atmospheric electron density profiles were observed on the sunlit and dark sides of the planet, respectively. A topographic map of the Martian surface, obtained from the limb diffraction effects observed at ingress and egress, is found to agree well with the elevation contours of US Geological survey map M 25M 3 RMC, with the exception of the south polar and Alba Patera regions.

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