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Nocturnal turbulence at Jezero crater, as determined from MEDA measurements and modeling
  • +19
  • Jorge Pla-García,
  • Asier Munguira,
  • Claire Newman,
  • Tanguy Bertrand,
  • German Martinez,
  • Ricardo Hueso,
  • Agustín Sánchez-Lavega,
  • Teresa del Rio-Gaztelurrutia,
  • Alexander E Stott,
  • Naomi Murdoch,
  • Manuel de la Torre Juárez,
  • Mark T Lemmon,
  • Hannu Savijärvi,
  • Mark Ian Richardson,
  • Eduardo Sebastian Martínez,
  • Alain Lepinette Malvitte,
  • Luis Mora Sotomayor,
  • José A Rodriguez-Manfredi,
  • Daniel Viúdez-Moreiras,
  • Mercedes Marin,
  • Scot Rafkin,
  • Baptiste Chide
Jorge Pla-García
Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA)

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Asier Munguira
UPV/EHU
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Claire Newman
Aeolis Research
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Tanguy Bertrand
Paris Observatory
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German Martinez
Lunar and Planetary Institute
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Ricardo Hueso
UPV/EHU
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Agustín Sánchez-Lavega
Universidad del Pais Vasco UPV/EHU
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Teresa del Rio-Gaztelurrutia
Universidad País Vasco UPV/EHU
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Alexander E Stott
Institut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace (ISAE-SUPAERO)
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Naomi Murdoch
ISAE SUPAERO
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Manuel de la Torre Juárez
Jet Propulsion Laboratory- California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
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Mark T Lemmon
Space Science Institute
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Hannu Savijärvi
University of Helsinki
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Mark Ian Richardson
Aeolis Research
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Eduardo Sebastian Martínez
Centro de Astrobiología
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Alain Lepinette Malvitte
Centro de Astrobiologia, INTA-CSIC
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Luis Mora Sotomayor
Centro de Astrobiología
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José A Rodriguez-Manfredi
Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA)
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Daniel Viúdez-Moreiras
Centro de Astrobiología (INTA-CSIC)
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Mercedes Marin
Centro de Astrobiología (INTA-CSIC)
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Scot Rafkin
Southwest Research Institute
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Baptiste Chide
Los Alamos National Laboratory
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Abstract

Mars 2020 Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA) instrument data acquired during half of a martian year (Ls 13º-180º), and modeling efforts with the Mars Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (MRAMS) and Mars Climate Database (MCD) allow us to study the seasonal evolution and variability of nocturnal atmospheric turbulence at Jezero crater. Nighttime conditions in Mars’s Planetary Boundary Layer are highly stable because of strong radiative cooling that efficiently inhibits convection. However, MEDA nighttime observations of simultaneous, rapid fluctuations in horizontal wind speed and air temperatures suggest the development of nighttime turbulence in Jezero crater. Mesoscale modeling with MRAMS also shows a similar pattern and enables us to investigate the origins of this turbulence and the mechanisms at play. As opposed to Gale crater, less evidence of turbulence from breaking mountain/gravity wave activity was found in Jezero during the period studied with MRAMS. On the contrary, the model suggests that nighttime turbulence at Jezero crater is explained by mechanical turbulence produced by increasingly strong wind shear related to the development of a bore-like disturbance at the nocturnal inversion interface. The enhanced wind shear leads to a reduction in the Ri and an onset of mechanical turbulence. Once the critical Richardson Number is reached (Ri ∼< 0.25), shear instabilities can mix warmer air aloft down to the surface.