Seasonal Water "Pump" in the Atmosphere of Mars: Vertical Transport to the Thermosphere

Abstract

We present results of simulations with the Max Planck Institute general circulation model (MPI-MGCM) implementing a hydrological cycle scheme. The simulations reveal a seasonal water "pump" mechanism responsible for the upward transport of water vapor. This mechanism occurs in high latitudes above 60${}^{\circ }$ of the southern hemisphere at perihelion, when the upward branch of the meridional circulation is particularly strong. A combination of the mean vertical flux with variations induced by solar tides facilitates penetration of water across the "bottleneck" at approximately 60 km. The meridional circulation then transports water across the globe to the northern hemisphere. Since the intensity of the meridional cell is tightly controlled by airborne dust, the water abundance in the thermosphere strongly increases during dust storms.

15 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (2)

• Seasonal Water "Pump" in the Atmosphere of Mars: Vertical Transport to the Thermosphere
• Modeling the hydrological cycle in the atmosphere of Mars: Influence of a bimodal size distribution of aerosol nucleation particles

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Seasonal Water "Pump" in the Atmosphere of Mars: Vertical Transport to the Thermosphere
• Dust storm-enhanced gravity wave activity in the Martian thermosphere observed by MAVEN and implication for atmospheric escape
• Martian Dust Storms and Gravity Waves: Disentangling Water Transport to the Upper Atmosphere
• Origins Space Telescope: From First Light to Life -- ESA Voyage 2050 White Paper