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Water Vapor Vertical Distribution on Mars After Six Years of TGO/NOMAD Solar Occultations: 2. Cross‐Validation Within TGO and Comparison With MPCM.

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Title: Water Vapor Vertical Distribution on Mars After Six Years of TGO/NOMAD Solar Occultations: 2. Cross‐Validation Within TGO and Comparison With MPCM.
Authors: Brines, A.1,2 (AUTHOR) adrianbm@g.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp, López‐Valverde, M. A.1 (AUTHOR), González‐Galindo, F.1 (AUTHOR), Aoki, S.2,3 (AUTHOR), Fedorova, A.4 (AUTHOR), Belyaev, D.4 (AUTHOR), Forget, F.5 (AUTHOR), Vos, E.5 (AUTHOR), Montmessin, F.5 (AUTHOR), Funke, B.1 (AUTHOR), Lopez‐Moreno, J. J.1 (AUTHOR), Rodriguez‐Gomez, J.1 (AUTHOR), Daerden, F.6 (AUTHOR), Thomas, I. R.6 (AUTHOR), Trompet, L.6 (AUTHOR), Modak, A.7 (AUTHOR), Villanueva, G. L.8 (AUTHOR), Patel, M. R.9 (AUTHOR), Bellucci, G.10 (AUTHOR), Vandaele, A. C.6 (AUTHOR)
Source: Journal of Geophysical Research. Planets. Feb2026, Vol. 131 Issue 2, p1-28. 28p.
Subject Terms: Water vapor, Martian atmosphere, Spectrometers, Concentration gradient, Atmospheric models
Abstract: This is the second part of an investigation of water vapor in the Martian atmosphere using solar occultation observations by the Nadir and Occultation for MArs Discovery (NOMAD) spectrometer on board the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. Following the analysis of six Earth years of NOMAD observations performed in the first part, a cross‐validation between NOMAD and ACS results is presented, showing global as well as profile‐by‐profile comparisons. The results reveal an overall good agreement between different teams and instruments, taking into account the different retrieval methodologies. In order to compare with model predictions, we perform an exhaustive analysis of the water vapor simulated by Mars Planetary Climate Model (MPCM). It shows that the MPCM reproduces most of the water vapor climatological features observed in the atmosphere. However, several discrepancies between model and observations are noticed. Some of these are possibly related to the vertical distribution of dust and its effect on the global circulation and on the water vapor vertical transport. Other data‐model differences found at 60 km seem to be related to discrepancies on the water ice cloud formation in the MPCM. We include a cluster analysis of Martian water vapor vertical profiles for the first time. This technique applied to MPCM and NOMAD water vapor retrievals reveal distinct groups of profiles being representative of specific seasons and latitudinal regions, similarly distributed in both model and observations. Moreover, it allows us to provide a simplified water vapor climatology, useful to detect out‐of‐season events and biases in the retrieval processes. Plain Language Summary: This study is a follow‐up to a previous paper focused on the analysis Martian water vapor vertical profiles. We take advantage of the large data set to compare water vapor measurements from two instruments, NOMAD and ACS, both onboard the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO). These comparisons show good agreement between the instruments, despite differences in how the data is processed by different teams. Additionally, we compare these measurements to simulated water vapor vertical profiles from a global circulation model, which calculates the temporal evolution of different atmospheric parameters involved in the planetary meteorology and climate. The model manages to predict the observed water vapor seasonal and latitudinal patterns on Mars, although there are some notable discrepancies. These differences between model and observations are linked to how the model handles the distribution of dust and its impact on the global circulation, as well as possible misinterpretations in simulating the formation of water ice clouds at high altitudes. Our study introduces a new post processing methodology on Mars water vertical profiles, identifying distinct groups of profiles representative of specific seasons and locations on the planet. This approach simplifies the analysis and helps identify unusual events or issues with the data processing. Key Points: Cross‐validation between NOMAD and ACS water vapor observations shows good agreement despite differing retrieval methodsMPCM reproduces NOMAD climatology, but discrepancies arise from dust‐driven circulation being poorly modeled, affecting water condensationCluster analysis on NOMAD vertical profiles identifies seasonal and latitudinal representative profiles, providing a simplified climatology [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Journal of Geophysical Research. Planets is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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  Data: Water Vapor Vertical Distribution on Mars After Six Years of TGO/NOMAD Solar Occultations: 2. Cross‐Validation Within TGO and Comparison With MPCM.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+Geophysical+Research%2E+Planets%22">Journal of Geophysical Research. Planets</searchLink>. Feb2026, Vol. 131 Issue 2, p1-28. 28p.
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  Data: This is the second part of an investigation of water vapor in the Martian atmosphere using solar occultation observations by the Nadir and Occultation for MArs Discovery (NOMAD) spectrometer on board the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. Following the analysis of six Earth years of NOMAD observations performed in the first part, a cross‐validation between NOMAD and ACS results is presented, showing global as well as profile‐by‐profile comparisons. The results reveal an overall good agreement between different teams and instruments, taking into account the different retrieval methodologies. In order to compare with model predictions, we perform an exhaustive analysis of the water vapor simulated by Mars Planetary Climate Model (MPCM). It shows that the MPCM reproduces most of the water vapor climatological features observed in the atmosphere. However, several discrepancies between model and observations are noticed. Some of these are possibly related to the vertical distribution of dust and its effect on the global circulation and on the water vapor vertical transport. Other data‐model differences found at 60 km seem to be related to discrepancies on the water ice cloud formation in the MPCM. We include a cluster analysis of Martian water vapor vertical profiles for the first time. This technique applied to MPCM and NOMAD water vapor retrievals reveal distinct groups of profiles being representative of specific seasons and latitudinal regions, similarly distributed in both model and observations. Moreover, it allows us to provide a simplified water vapor climatology, useful to detect out‐of‐season events and biases in the retrieval processes. Plain Language Summary: This study is a follow‐up to a previous paper focused on the analysis Martian water vapor vertical profiles. We take advantage of the large data set to compare water vapor measurements from two instruments, NOMAD and ACS, both onboard the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO). These comparisons show good agreement between the instruments, despite differences in how the data is processed by different teams. Additionally, we compare these measurements to simulated water vapor vertical profiles from a global circulation model, which calculates the temporal evolution of different atmospheric parameters involved in the planetary meteorology and climate. The model manages to predict the observed water vapor seasonal and latitudinal patterns on Mars, although there are some notable discrepancies. These differences between model and observations are linked to how the model handles the distribution of dust and its impact on the global circulation, as well as possible misinterpretations in simulating the formation of water ice clouds at high altitudes. Our study introduces a new post processing methodology on Mars water vertical profiles, identifying distinct groups of profiles representative of specific seasons and locations on the planet. This approach simplifies the analysis and helps identify unusual events or issues with the data processing. Key Points: Cross‐validation between NOMAD and ACS water vapor observations shows good agreement despite differing retrieval methodsMPCM reproduces NOMAD climatology, but discrepancies arise from dust‐driven circulation being poorly modeled, affecting water condensationCluster analysis on NOMAD vertical profiles identifies seasonal and latitudinal representative profiles, providing a simplified climatology [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Geophysical Research. Planets is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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