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The Atmospheric Response to an Unusual Early-Year Martian Dust Storm
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  • Cong Sun,
  • Chengyun Yang,
  • Xin Fang,
  • Tao Li
Cong Sun
University of Science and Technology of China
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Chengyun Yang
University of Science and Technology of China

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Xin Fang
University of Science and Technology of China
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Tao Li
University of Science and Technology of China
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Abstract

During the northern spring (approximately Ls≈33°) in Martian Year 35, Mars experienced an unusual dust storm characterized by significantly increased dust in the northern troposphere. As observed by the Mars Climate Sounder (MCS), temperature significantly increases in the mid-latitude troposphere of both hemispheres and decreases in the northern mesosphere during the event. The temperature response simulated by the Martian General Circulation Model (GCM) agrees with the MCS observations. The radiative heating from dust is responsible for the increased temperature in the northern troposphere. In contrast, the dynamic heating/cooling contributes to the temperature variations in the southern troposphere and northern mesosphere. The increased dissipation of planetary waves enhances the residual meridional circulation and causes the temperature warming in the Southern Hemisphere. In addition, the enhanced meridional circulation related to this event leads to ~36% increase in water vapor transport from the Northern to the Southern Hemisphere as compared to the net interhemispheric transport over an entire Martian Year.
17 Feb 2024Submitted to ESS Open Archive
28 Feb 2024Published in ESS Open Archive