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Water Vapor Vertical Distribution on Mars During Perihelion Season of MY 34 and MY 35 With ExoMars‐TGO/NOMAD Observations.

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Title: Water Vapor Vertical Distribution on Mars During Perihelion Season of MY 34 and MY 35 With ExoMars‐TGO/NOMAD Observations.
Authors: Brines, A.1 (AUTHOR) adrianbm@iaa.es, López‐Valverde, M. A.1 (AUTHOR), Stolzenbach, A.1 (AUTHOR), Modak, A.1 (AUTHOR), Funke, B.1 (AUTHOR), Galindo, F. G.1 (AUTHOR), Aoki, S.2,3 (AUTHOR), Villanueva, G. L.4 (AUTHOR), Liuzzi, G.4,5 (AUTHOR), Thomas, I. R.2 (AUTHOR), Erwin, J. T.6 (AUTHOR), Grabowski, U.6 (AUTHOR), Forget, F.7 (AUTHOR), Lopez‐Moreno, J. J.1 (AUTHOR), Rodriguez‐Gomez, J.1 (AUTHOR), Daerden, F.2 (AUTHOR), Trompet, L.2 (AUTHOR), Ristic, B.2 (AUTHOR), Patel, M. R.8 (AUTHOR), Bellucci, G.9 (AUTHOR)
Source: Journal of Geophysical Research. Planets. Nov2023, Vol. 128 Issue 11, p1-25. 25p.
Subject Terms: *Dust storms, *Dust, *Trace gases, Water vapor, Martian atmosphere, Atmospheric water vapor measurement, Mars (Planet), Atmospheric layers
Abstract: The water vapor in the Martian atmosphere plays a significant role in the planet's climate, being crucial in most of the chemical and radiative transfer processes. Despite its importance, the vertical distribution of H2O in the atmosphere has not still been characterized precisely enough. The recent ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter mission, with its Nadir and Occultation for MArs Discovery instrument, has allowed us to measure the H2O vertical distribution with unprecedented resolution. Recent studies of vertical profiles have shown that high dust concentration in the atmosphere, in particular during dust storms, induces an efficient transport of the H2O to higher altitudes, from 40 km up to 80 km. We study the H2O vertical distribution in a subset of solar occultations during the perihelion of two Martian years (MYs), including the 2018 Global Dust Storm (GDS), in order to compare the same Martian season under GDS and non‐GDS conditions. We present our state‐of‐the‐art retrieval scheme, and we apply it to a combination of two diffraction orders, which permits sounding up to about 100 km. We confirm recent findings of H2O increasing at high altitudes during Ls = 190°–205° in MY 34, reaching abundances of about 150 ppmv at 80 km in both hemispheres not found during the same period of MY 35. We found a hygropause's steep rising during the GDS from 30 up to 80 km. Furthermore, strong supersaturation events have been identified at mesospheric altitudes even in presence of water ice layers retrieved by the IAA team. Plain Language Summary: The characterization of water vapor in the atmosphere is important for understanding the cycle of water on Mars and it is crucial in most of the atmospheric processes taking place in its current climate. The observation technique of the Nadir and Occultation for Mars Discovery onboard ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter using solar occultations allows a high resolution vertical sampling of the atmosphere, permitting characterization of the H2O vertical distribution. In this work, we analyze the H2O distribution in the Martian atmosphere during the southern spring in Martian years 34 and 35. A Global Dust Storm event during the first one allowed us to study the atmospheric H2O and its response in the same season under intense and regular dusty conditions. We found that during intense dust storms, water vapor is present at higher altitudes rather than in regular atmospheric dust activity. This shows high concentrations of about 150 ppmv up to 80 km. As a consequence of the dust intensification, we observed an increase in the altitude of the 50 ppmv water vapor layer. Here, we report observations of atmospheric layers where H2O abundances exceed the theoretical needed saturation limit even when small particles are present. Key Points: Water vapor vertical distributions during the first half of the Martian perihelion season are presented from two consecutive Martian yearsStrong impact of the 2018 Global Dust Storm in the H2O abundances during MY 34, showing an increase on the hygropause's altitude compared to MY 35Atmospheric supersaturation events with presence of water ice at mesospheric altitudes are reported [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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Abstract:The water vapor in the Martian atmosphere plays a significant role in the planet's climate, being crucial in most of the chemical and radiative transfer processes. Despite its importance, the vertical distribution of H2O in the atmosphere has not still been characterized precisely enough. The recent ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter mission, with its Nadir and Occultation for MArs Discovery instrument, has allowed us to measure the H2O vertical distribution with unprecedented resolution. Recent studies of vertical profiles have shown that high dust concentration in the atmosphere, in particular during dust storms, induces an efficient transport of the H2O to higher altitudes, from 40 km up to 80 km. We study the H2O vertical distribution in a subset of solar occultations during the perihelion of two Martian years (MYs), including the 2018 Global Dust Storm (GDS), in order to compare the same Martian season under GDS and non‐GDS conditions. We present our state‐of‐the‐art retrieval scheme, and we apply it to a combination of two diffraction orders, which permits sounding up to about 100 km. We confirm recent findings of H2O increasing at high altitudes during Ls = 190°–205° in MY 34, reaching abundances of about 150 ppmv at 80 km in both hemispheres not found during the same period of MY 35. We found a hygropause's steep rising during the GDS from 30 up to 80 km. Furthermore, strong supersaturation events have been identified at mesospheric altitudes even in presence of water ice layers retrieved by the IAA team. Plain Language Summary: The characterization of water vapor in the atmosphere is important for understanding the cycle of water on Mars and it is crucial in most of the atmospheric processes taking place in its current climate. The observation technique of the Nadir and Occultation for Mars Discovery onboard ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter using solar occultations allows a high resolution vertical sampling of the atmosphere, permitting characterization of the H2O vertical distribution. In this work, we analyze the H2O distribution in the Martian atmosphere during the southern spring in Martian years 34 and 35. A Global Dust Storm event during the first one allowed us to study the atmospheric H2O and its response in the same season under intense and regular dusty conditions. We found that during intense dust storms, water vapor is present at higher altitudes rather than in regular atmospheric dust activity. This shows high concentrations of about 150 ppmv up to 80 km. As a consequence of the dust intensification, we observed an increase in the altitude of the 50 ppmv water vapor layer. Here, we report observations of atmospheric layers where H2O abundances exceed the theoretical needed saturation limit even when small particles are present. Key Points: Water vapor vertical distributions during the first half of the Martian perihelion season are presented from two consecutive Martian yearsStrong impact of the 2018 Global Dust Storm in the H2O abundances during MY 34, showing an increase on the hygropause's altitude compared to MY 35Atmospheric supersaturation events with presence of water ice at mesospheric altitudes are reported [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:21699097
DOI:10.1029/2022JE007273