Modeling the Martian dust cycle, 1. Representations of dust transport processes

Abstract

A dust transport scheme has been developed for a general circulation model of the Martian atmosphere. This enables radiatively active dust transport, with the atmospheric state responding to changes in the dust distribution via atmospheric heating, as well as dust transport being determined by atmospheric conditions. The scheme includes dust lifting, advection by model winds, atmospheric mixing, and gravitational sedimentation. Parameterizations of lifting initiated by a) near-surface wind stress and b) convective vortices known as dust devils are considered. Two parameterizations are defined for each mechanism, and are first investigated offline using data previously output from the non-dust transporting model. The threshold-insensitive parameterizations predict some lifting over most regions, varying smoothly in space and time. The threshold-sensitive parameterizations predict lifting only during extreme atmospheric conditions (such as exceptionally strong winds) so lifting is rarer and more confined to specific regions and times. Wind stress lifting is predicted to peak during southern summer, largely between latitudes 15 • -35 • S, with maxima also in regions of strong slope winds or thermal contrast flows. These areas are consistent with observed storm onset regions and dark streak surface features. Dust devil lifting is also predicted to peak during southern summer, with a moderate peak during northern summer. The greatest dust devil lifting occurs in early afternoon, particularly in the Noachis, Arcadia/Amazonis, Sirenum and Thaumasia regions. Radiatively active dust transport experiments reveal strong positive feedbacks on lifting by near-surface wind stress, and negative feedbacks on lifting by dust devils.

The Modern Near-Surface Martian Climate: A Review of In-situ Meteorological Data from Viking to Curiosity

“…2, left column). Differences in solar insolation between the perihelion and aphelion seasons produce on average higher temperatures during the perihelion season, enhancing the injection of dust into the atmosphere via wind stress and dust devils (Haberle et al 1982;Newman et al 2002aNewman et al , 2002bKahre et al 2006;Greeley et al 2010). Satellite measurements of atmospheric opacity show similar aphelion-versus-perihelion behavior on a planet-wide scale (Smith 2004;Cantor et al 2001;Montabone et al 2015).…”

“…The Martian regolith forms a loosely packed, porous medium, which is the source of the ubiquitous airborne dust and allows the exchange of volatiles with the atmosphere. The large spatial and temporal variability in atmospheric dust content creates complex feedbacks connecting dust lifting and transport with the evolving atmospheric circulations (Newman et al 2002a(Newman et al , 2002bBasu et al 2004; Kahre et al 2006;Madeleine et al 2011). As an example of such feedback, Martian global dust storms occur every few years, enshrouding the entire planet with dust in just a few weeks.…”

History and Applications of Dust Devil Studies

“…Newman et al 2002). While dust devils are no longer implicated in the formation of large-scale dust storms (and indeed their occurrence is anticorrelated, since dust-loading attenuates the convective instability that drives dust devils), dust lofting by dust devils is believed to be a significant contributor to Mars atmospheric dust loading.…”

風成砂丘から見る火星およびタイタンの大気循環システム

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