The Oregon State University Mars MM5 was used in a comprehensive high-resolution study of northern polar summertime circulations. Three simulations (Ls = 120, Ls = 135, and Ls = 150) characterize the changing circulation. The atmosphere is dry, and model dynamics are hydrostatic. A modified TES thermal inertia map provides...
Previous simulations of the Martian atmosphere have shown how topography acts to confine the low-level Hadley cell flow into intense jets on the eastern flanks of Tharsis and Syrtis Major. We now conduct detailed studies of these jets using the NASA Ames Mars general circulation model (MGCM). The structure of...
Analysis of simulations performed with the NASA/Ames Mars GCM shows that under dusty conditions the Northern Hemisphere winter solstice circulation becomes characterized by a zonally averaged state in which the potential vorticity at upper levels is very small outside of high latitudes. The available observational data-in particular the 15-µm observations...
Modeling of slope flow circulations in idealized axisymmetric craters is used to understand (1) the large surface pressure amplitude observed in Gale Crater by the Rover Environmental Monitoring Station and (2) the shallow convective boundary layer (CBL) suggested by Curiosity imagery. Air temperatures vary within craters with greater amplitudes than...
For a key season in the annual water cycle (L[subscript s]~120°) a mesoscale model is used to study atmospheric water vapor and water ice clouds in the northern polar region of Mars. Model results at high-resolution (15 km) allow the examination of various mesoscale aspects of the circulation in this...
The Mars Science Laboratory mission aims to land a car-sized rover on Mars’ surface and operate it for at least one Mars year in order to assess whether its field area was ever capable of supporting microbial life. Here we describe the approach used to identify, characterize, and assess environmental...
Mariner 9 and Viking spacecraft observations provided evidence for planetary-scale, wavelike disturbances in the Mars winter atmosphere. Possible sources of the wave activity are dynamical instabilities, for example, barotropic and / or baroclinic instabilities. Other candidate sources are forced. quasi-stationary planetary waves—waves that arise predominantly via zonally asymmetric surface properties....
Mars Pathfinder successfully landed at Ares Vallis on July 4, 1997, deployed and navigated
a small rover about l00 m clockwise around the lander, and collected data from three science
instruments and ten technology experiments. The mission operated for three months and returned
2.3 Gbits of data, including over 16,500...
The Phoenix mission, launched on 4 August 2007, landed in the far northern
plains of Mars on 25 May 2008. In order to prepare for the landing events and the
90-sol mission, a significant amount of work has gone into characterizing the atmospheric
environment at this location on Mars for...
A set of simulations with the NASA Ames Mars general circulation model (GCM) has been analyzed to define the basic properties and dynamics of quasi-stationary eddy circulations in the winter hemisphere. These circulations, differing substantially from those in low latitudes and the summer hemisphere, extended from the surface to the...
