Computer Science – Sound
Scientific paper
Dec 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010agufm.p53e1573w&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010, abstract #P53E-1573
Computer Science
Sound
[0321] Atmospheric Composition And Structure / Cloud/Radiation Interaction, [0343] Atmospheric Composition And Structure / Planetary Atmospheres, [5445] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Meteorology, [6225] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Mars
Scientific paper
The Mars Global Surveyor mission returned suggestive evidence for the influence of radiatively active water ice clouds on tropical temperature structure during the NH summer solstice season when an equatorial cloud belt is observed to be prominent. The seasonal evolution of observed nighttime surface temperatures indicated enhanced surface heating from relatively thick (tau ~1) water ice clouds in the Tharsis region [Wilson et al. 2007]. Elevated tropical temperature inversions were strikingly evident in early morning (~0400 LT) tropical temperature profiles derived from MGS Radio Science (RS) occultations during the Ls=140-156 period in MY24 [Hinson and Wilson, 2004]. Based on Mars GCM simulations, these inversions were interpreted as the manifestation of a topographically modulated thermal tide that is amplified by the radiative forcing associated with the embedded water ice clouds. However, the sparse coverage of RS observations and the coarse vertical resolution of the MGS Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) nadir and limb retrievals have prevented the development of a comprehensive description of the temporal and spatial structure of the coupled tropical cloud and thermal fields. The recent refinement of the version 3 temperature and cloud mixing ratio retrievals (based on limb and off-nadir profiling) from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) Mars Climate Sounder (MCS) provides sufficient vertical resolution to clearly identify the temperature inversions previously seen only in the MGS RS profiles. The extensive spatial and seasonal coverage provided by MRO over two Mars years is allowing us to document the evolution of the tropical temperature and cloud structure over the course of the summer solstice season. We make use of a Mars GCM to contrast the simulated tide response to forcing by clouds and topography with the available (twice daily) observations. The GCM also allows the observed anomaly in nighttime surface temperature to be used to estimate the cloud column optical depth and thus complement the MCS cloud profile retrievals, which are limited in cases of optically thick clouds. References: Hinson and Wilson, JGR, 109, E01002, 2004; Wilson et al. GRL, 34, L02710, 2007.
Hinson David P.
Kass David
Kleinboehl Armin
Schofield John T.
Shirley James H.
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