Martian Equatorial Atmospheric Tides From Surface Observations

Diurnal solar radiation causes global oscillations in pressure, temperature, and wind fields, known as atmospheric tides, which are further modified by topography, surface properties, and atmospheric dust loading. Hence, the tides are a combination of sun‐synchronous and non sun‐synchronous tides that propagate around the planet both eastward and westward. In the Martian tropics, atmospheric tides dominate daily pressure variations on the surface. Therefore, surface observing platforms are extremely useful for detailed analysis of atmospheric tides. In this investigation, we analyze diurnal and semi‐diurnal components of atmospheric surface pressure measured by the simultaneously operating InSight and Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) payloads. We utilize observations of the time period from Martian year (MY) 34 solar longitude 296° to MY 36 solar longitude 53°. The diurnal tide average amplitude is 17 Pa with an average phase of 03:39 local true solar time (LTST), while the semi‐diurnal tide average amplitude and phase are 7 Pa and 09:34 LTST for the InSight. The corresponding values for the MSL are 33 Pa with 04:25 LTST for the diurnal and 10 Pa with 09:36 LTST for the semi‐diurnal component. Thermo‐topographic lateral hydrostatic adjustment flow generated by topography causes the higher diurnal amplitude observed by MSL. Both platforms observe a similar response between these harmonic components and dust loading. Furthermore, amplitudes obtained from a Mars Climate Database mimic the observations well. Our study provides for the first time a comparison of atmospheric tides at two simultaneously observing tropical surface platforms for more than 1 MY. The Curiosity rover landed on Mars in August 2012 and has been observing meteorological variables ever since. The next surface observing station, the InSight lander, landed in the equatorial region of Mars in November 2018, relatively close to Curiosity. Unfortunately, InSight reached end of its mission on 15 December 2022, but fortunately they observed Martian atmosphere simultaneously for more than one Martian year. Atmospheric pressure is a very important meteorological variable, since many weather phenomena are associated with changes in surface pressure. Here, we use pressure observations from these two weather stations to determine Martian equatorial atmospheric tides and compare them with model simulations. They are forced by solar radiation and additionally modified by topography, surface properties, and atmospheric dust. They propagate around the planet in periods that are integer fractions of a Martian day. The two strongest components, diurnal and semi‐diurnal, with periods of 24 and 12 hr, are studied here. The results show the effect of atmospheric dust loading and the location on these components. We find a similar response between these components and atmospheric dust loading on both platforms and a higher amplitude of the diurnal tide at the Curiosity location due to differences in topography. We analyze diurnal and semi‐diurnal atmospheric tidal components from simultaneous InSight and Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) observationsWe find higher amplitude of the diurnal harmonic component at MSL location due to differences in topographyWe find a similar response between the harmonic components and atmospheric dust loading on both platforms We analyze diurnal and semi‐diurnal atmospheric tidal components from simultaneous InSight and Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) observations We find higher amplitude of the diurnal harmonic component at MSL location due to differences in topography We find a similar response between the harmonic components and atmospheric dust loading on both platforms