Martian dust storm impact on atmospheric H2O and D/H observed by ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter

Vandaele, Ann Carine; Korablev, Oleg; Daerden, Frank; Aoki, Shohei; Thomas, Ian; Altieri, F.; López‐Valverde, M. Á.; Villanueva, Gerónimo; Liuzzi, Giuliano; Smith, M. D.; Erwin, Justin; Trompet, Loïc; Fedorova, Anna; Montmessin, Franck; Trokhimovskiy, Alexander; Belyaev, Denis; Ignatiev, Nikolay; Luginin, Mikhail; Olsen, Kevin; Baggio, Lucio; Alday, Juan; Bertaux, Jean-Loup; Betsis, Daria; Bolsée, David; Clancy, R. T.; Cloutis, E. A.; Depiesse, C.; Funke, B.; García‐Comas, M.; Gérard, Jean‐Claude; Giuranna, M.; González‐Galindo, Francisco; Grigoriev, Аlexey; Ivanov, Yuriy; Kaminski, J. W.; Karatekin, Özgür; Lefèvre, Franck; Lewis, S. R.; López‐Puertas, M.; Mahieux, A.; Maslov, I. A.; Mason, Jon; Mumma, M. J.; Neary, L.; Neefs, Eddy; Patrakeev, Andrey; Patsaev, D.; Ristić, Bojan; Robert, Séverine; Schmidt, Frédéric; Shakun, Alexey; Teanby, N. A.; Viscardy, S.; Willame, Yannick; Whiteway, J.; Wilquet, V.; Wolff, Michael; Bellucci, G.; Patel, Manish R.; Lopez-Moreno, J. J.; Forget, F.; Wilson, Colin; Svedhem, H.; Vago, Jorge L.; Rodionov, D.

doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1097-3

Cited by 136 publications

(157 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…In the perihelion period, the retrieved latitude distribution of water ice particle size agrees with previous studies (Guzewich & Smith, ), where the NOMAD retrievals extend the ice particle size climatology in coverage and altitude. Single, collocated observations with ACS (Luginin et al, ; Vandaele et al, ) show also a high level of consistency with these retrievals. In particular, water ice retrievals are highly consistent both in pre‐GDS observations in the NH (with a steep gradient in the water ice particle size, from 3.5 to <0.5 μm), and during the GDS in the SH.…”

Section: Data Set and Resultsmentioning

confidence: 75%

Strong Variability of Martian Water Ice Clouds During Dust Storms Revealed From ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter/NOMAD

et al. 2020

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Observations of water ice clouds and aerosols on Mars can provide important insights into the complexity of the water cycle. Recent observations have indicated an important link between dust activity and the water cycle, as intense dust activity can significantly raise the hygropause, and subsequently increase the escape of water after dissociation in the upper atmosphere. Here present observations from Nadir and Occultation for MArs Discovery/Trace Gas Orbiter that investigate the variation of water ice clouds in the perihelion season of Mars year 34 (April 2018-2019), their diurnal and seasonal behavior, and the vertical structure and microphysical properties of water ice and dust. These observations reveal the recurrent presence of a layer of mesospheric water ice clouds subsequent to the 2018 global dust storm. We show that this layer rose from 45 to 80 km in altitude on a time scale of days from heating in the lower atmosphere due to the storm. In addition, we demonstrate that there is a strong dawn-dusk asymmetry in water ice abundance, related to nighttime nucleation and subsequent daytime sublimation. Water ice particle sizes are retrieved consistently and exhibit sharp vertical gradients (from 0.1 to 4.0 μm), as well as mesospheric differences between the global dust storm (<0.5 μm) and the 2019 regional dust storm (1.0 μm), which suggests differing water ice nucleation efficiencies. These results form the basis to advance our understanding of mesospheric water ice clouds on Mars, and further constrain the interactions between water ice and dust in the middle atmosphere.

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Section: Data Set and Resultsmentioning

confidence: 75%

Strong Variability of Martian Water Ice Clouds During Dust Storms Revealed From ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter/NOMAD

et al. 2020

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“…A similar result was inferred from Mars Climate Sounder (MCS) temperature and ice optical depth profiles (Heavens et al, ). The TGO NOMAD and ACS instruments also measured an increase in water vapor at high altitude during the GDS in 2018, which occurred much earlier than the 2007 GDS and also was much stronger (Vandaele et al, ; Aoki et al, ). The enhancement of high‐altitude water vapor has been linked to reinforced hydrogen escape (Chaffin et al, , ; Heavens et al, ; Krasnopolsky, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Explanation for the Increase in High‐Altitude Water on Mars Observed by NOMAD During the 2018 Global Dust Storm

Neary

Daerden

Aoki

et al. 2020

Geophysical Research Letters

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The Nadir and Occultation for MArs Discovery (NOMAD) instrument on board ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter measured a large increase in water vapor at altitudes in the range of 40-100 km during the 2018 global dust storm on Mars. Using a three-dimensional general circulation model, we examine the mechanism responsible for the enhancement of water vapor in the upper atmosphere. Experiments with different prescribed vertical profiles of dust show that when more dust is present higher in the atmosphere, the temperature increases, and the amount of water ascending over the tropics is not limited by saturation until reaching heights of 70-100 km. The warmer temperatures allow more water to ascend to the mesosphere. Photochemical simulations show a strong increase in high-altitude atomic hydrogen following the high-altitude water vapor increase by a few days. Plain Language Summary The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) is currently in orbit aroundMars measuring the composition of the atmosphere. TGO was able to make observations before, during, and after a large planet-encircling dust storm that occurred from June to August 2018. The TGO measurements provide the first opportunity to observe how water vapor is distributed with height in the atmosphere during a global-scale dust event. It was found that there was a large increase in water vapor very high (40-100 km) in the atmosphere during the dust storm. Using a three-dimensional numerical model of the Mars atmosphere, we found that when dust from the storm is transported up to levels above~40 km, it warms the atmosphere due to solar absorption, and this in turn prevents ice clouds from forming at heights of 40-60 km and allows more water vapor to ascend to greater heights in the atmosphere. This is of interest in terms of the planetary evolution, as water molecules at greater heights are more readily dissociated by sunlight and lost from the atmosphere. This is an important factor for understanding the changes that have occurred since the period when surface features on Mars indicate that liquid water was present.

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“…A similar result was inferred from MCS temperature and ice optical depth profiles [Heavens at al., 2018]. The TGO NOMAD and ACS instruments also measured an increase in water vapor at high altitude during the GDS in 2018, which occurred much earlier than the 2007 GDS and also was much stronger [Vandaele et al, 2019;Aoki et al, 2019, JGR Special issue]. The enhancement of high-altitude water vapor has been linked to reinforced hydrogen escape [Chaffin et al, 2017[Chaffin et al, , 2019Heavens et al, 2018, Krasnopolsky, 2019].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Explanation for the increase in high altitude water on Mars observed by NOMAD during the 2018 global dust storm

Neary¹,

Daerden²,

Aoki³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Using the GEM-Mars three-dimensional general circulation model (GCM), we examine the mechanism responsible for the enhancement of water vapour in the upper atmosphere as measured by the Nadir and Occultation for MArs Discovery (NOMAD) instrument onboard ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) during the 2018 global dust storm on Mars. Experiments with different prescribed vertical profiles of dust show that when more dust is present higher in the atmosphere, the temperature increases and the amount of water ascending over the tropics is not limited by saturation until reaching heights of 70-100 km. The warmer temperatures allow more water to ascend to the mesosphere. The simulation of enhanced high-altitude water abundances is very sensitive to the vertical distribution of the dust prescribed in the model. The GEM-Mars model includes gas-phase photochemistry, and these simulations show how the increased water vapour over the 40-100 km altitude range results in the production of high-altitude atomic hydrogen which can be linked to atmospheric escape.

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Martian dust storm impact on atmospheric H2O and D/H observed by ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter

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Cited by 136 publications

References 53 publications

Strong Variability of Martian Water Ice Clouds During Dust Storms Revealed From ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter/NOMAD

Strong Variability of Martian Water Ice Clouds During Dust Storms Revealed From ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter/NOMAD

Explanation for the Increase in High‐Altitude Water on Mars Observed by NOMAD During the 2018 Global Dust Storm

Explanation for the increase in high altitude water on Mars observed by NOMAD during the 2018 global dust storm

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