InSight Pressure Data Recalibration, and its Application to the Study of
Long-Term Pressure Changes on Mars
Lucas Lange
Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique,Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace (LMD/IPSL), Sorbonne Université, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), École Polytechnique, École Normale Supérieure (ENS), Paris, France, Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique,Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace (LMD/IPSL), Sorbonne Université, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), École Polytechnique, École Normale Supérieure (ENS), Paris, France
Corresponding Author:[email protected]
Author ProfileAbstract
Observations of the South Polar Residual Cap suggest a possible erosion
of the cap, leading to an increase of the global mass of the atmosphere.
We test this assumption by making the first comparison between Viking 1
and InSight surface pressure data that have been recorded with
~40 years of difference. Such a comparison also allows
us to determine changes in the dynamics of the seasonal ice caps between
these two periods. To do so, we first had to recalibrate the InSight
pressure data because of their unexpected sensitivity to the sensor
temperature. Then, we had to design a procedure to compare distant
pressure measurements. We propose two surface pressure interpolation
methods at the local and global scale to do the comparison. The
comparison of Viking and InSight seasonal surface pressure variations
does not show major changes in the CO2 cycle. Such
conclusions are also supported by an analysis of the Mars Science
Laboratory (MSL) pressure data. Further comparisons with images of the
south seasonal cap taken by the Viking 2 orbiter and MARCI camera do not
display significant changes in the dynamic of this cap within
~40 years. Only a possible larger extension of the North
Cap after the global storm of MY 34 is observed, but the physical
mechanisms behind this anomaly are not well determined. Finally, the
first comparison of MSL and InSight pressure data suggests a pressure
deficit at Gale crater during southern summer, possibly resulting from a
large presence of dust suspended within the crater.