loading page

Winter Equatorial Warming in Martian Upper Atmosphere from MAVEN Densities
  • +3
  • Jiandong Liu,
  • Yawen Li,
  • Peng Han,
  • Ehouarn Millour,
  • Haibing Ruan,
  • Shuanggen Jin
Jiandong Liu
Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology
Author Profile
Yawen Li
School of Remote Sensing and Geomatics Engineering,Nanjing University of Information Science&Technology
Author Profile
Peng Han
School of Remote Sensing and Geomatics Engineering,Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology
Author Profile
Ehouarn Millour
Laboratoire de Meteorologie Dynamique
Author Profile
Haibing Ruan
Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology
Author Profile
Shuanggen Jin
Shanghai Astrononomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

Author Profile

Abstract

Martian upper atmosphere warming reflects the energy-materials interactions from the lower atmosphere layers. In this paper, we show a new phenomenon that enhances Mars upper atmosphere density in the equatorial region during the winter periods. First, both accelerometer-derived density and NGIMS-measured species from MAVEN show that the winter equatorial region has a secondary warming peak compared with that of the high-latitude polar warming area. Second, the major neutrals (CO2, Ar, CO, N2, and O) indicate that the phenomenon extends at least up to 240 km during both day and night sides. Furthermore, the topographic-related longitudinal structure emerged in the equatorial sector indicates that the variations are more dynamical than we expected. The warming found in this study suggest to be dust-related and influenced by the evolution of the seasonal solar insolation. Both local factors, upward small-scale gravity waves and CO2 IR-thermal effect transfer, may play key roles in shaping the warming structure.