1. A warm layer in the nightside mesosphere of Mars
- Author
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Kaori Terada, Naoki Terada, Fayu Jiang, Sonal Jain, Kanako Seki, Nao Yoshida, Takeshi Imamura, Hannes Gröller, Franck Montmessin, Justin Deighan, Takeshi Kuroda, Roger V. Yelle, Hitoshi Fujiwara, Hiromu Nakagawa, Nicholas M. Schneider, Loic Verdier, Graduate School of Information Sciences [Sendai], Tohoku University [Sendai], Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics [Boulder] (LASP), University of Colorado [Boulder], PLANETO - LATMOS, Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS), Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS), Lunar and Planetary Laboratory [Tucson] (LPL), University of Arizona, Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS), Faculty of Science and Technology [Tokyo], Seikei University, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences [Kashiwa], The University of Tokyo (UTokyo), and Graduate School of Science [Tokyo]
- Subjects
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,Equator ,Northern Hemisphere ,Mars Exploration Program ,010502 geochemistry & geophysics ,Atmospheric sciences ,Atmospheric temperature ,01 natural sciences ,Mesosphere ,Warm front ,Geophysics ,13. Climate action ,[SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] ,Middle latitudes ,General Earth and Planetary Sciences ,Timekeeping on Mars ,Geology ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences - Abstract
International audience; We report a new set of stellar occultation measurements for nightside temperature profiles made by the MAVEN/IUVS that provide evidence for a recurring layer of warm air between 70‐90 km altitudes in the nightside mesosphere of Mars during Ls = 0° ‐ 180° in Martian Year 33‐34. The nightside profiles reveal a recurring peak of atmospheric temperature around 80 km over the equator to the middle latitudes in the northern hemisphere. The predictions of the Mars Climate Database have a warm layer with much smaller amplitudes. The observed peak amplitudes are larger than those predicted by the model by up to 90 K. Wavenumber‐3 structures are seen in the warm layer that are potentially signatures of thermal tides or stationary planetary waves, with amplitudes two‐times larger than predicted.
- Published
- 2020
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