Abstract
We report the first observation of the largest Martian lee wave and its
atmospheric characteristics over Arsia Mons Elongated Cloud (AMEC). We
analyze the wavelength, the cloud’s height, and wind speed from the lee
wave structure. The estimated wind speed is 86±4.9 m/s, with a
wavelength of 60± 0.3 km at the height of 55±7 km. This is the largest
lee wave structure that appears during dust storm season (Ls=230 to
Ls=300) and strongly contributes to the planet’s Aerosol Optical Depth
(AOD) level. Estimated AOD varies from 1.7 (Red channel) to 2.5 (Blue
channel), and indicates the maximum contribution from the water ice
crystal. The estimated angstrom exponent (α) value signifies coarse mode
particle presence in the cloud with an effective radius of 3.2μm. The
presence of water ice crystal contributes to the albedo level’s
increment to 0.8 and signifies the formation temperature for AMEC to be
around 190 K.