The atmosphere of Mars from mariner 9 radio occultation measurements

Kliore, A. J.; Cain, D. L.; Fjeldbo, G.; Seidel, B. L.; Sykes, Michael; Rasool, S. I.

doi:10.1016/0019-1035(72)90014-0

Cited by 181 publications

(77 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…This unusual behavior was immediately noted by the early investigators, who attributed it to the subsidence of the neutral atmosphere during the waning phase of a tremendous dust storm McElroy 1977). The steady descent of the ionospheric peak during the primary mission of Mariner 9 becomes noticeably clearer when peak altitudes are updated from being referenced to the Mariner-era areoid (Kliore et al 1972b) to being referenced to the MOLA areoid (Withers and Pratt 2013). Withers and Pratt (2013) showed how peak altitude dropped steadily from 150 to 140 km from orbit 1 to 79.…”

Section: Effects Of a Dust Storm On The Topside Ionospherementioning

confidence: 82%

“…Based on these samples, we requested data tables and plots of ionospheric properties as functions of radial distance for all occultations for which ionospheric peak properties were reported in Kliore et al (1972b) and Kliore et al (1973). We assumed that the absence of reported peak properties for a given occultation meant that no useful ionospheric profile was delivered to the archive.…”

Section: Recovery Of Mariner 9 Electron Density Profilesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Tables in Kliore et al (1972b) and Kliore et al (1973) report latitude, longitude, solar zenith angle, peak electron density, peak radial distance, and peak altitude for each occultation. We verified that the peak electron densities and peak radial distances reported by Kliore et al (1972b) and Kliore et al (1973) are consistent with the recovered electron density profiles.…”

Section: Recovery Of Mariner 9 Electron Density Profilesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since the difference between latitudes defined with these two conventions is in any case always less than 1°, we have interpreted the reported latitudes as modernera areocentric values (Smith et al 2001). Longitudes in Kliore (1972bKliore ( , 1973 are west longitudes, which were converted into east longitudes by subtracting them from 360°. Tracking the many different reference areoids used over the past four decades to convert radial distance to altitude is a major undertaking, which we sidestepped by converting each occultation's list of radial distances into altitudes using the radius of the MOLA areoid at the appropriate latitude and longitude (Smith et al 2001).…”

Section: Recovery Of Mariner 9 Electron Density Profilesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Recovery and validation of Mars ionospheric electron density profiles from Mariner 9

2015

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Electron density profiles from the ionosphere of Mars that were obtained by the Mariner 9 radio occultation experiment in 1971-1972 have unique scientific value because they extend to higher altitudes than comparable datasets and were acquired during a tremendous dust storm that had substantial and poorly understood effects on the ionosphere. Yet these profiles are not publicly available in an accessible format. Here, we describe the recovery of these profiles, which are made available as part of this article. The validity of the profiles was tested by using them to explore the effects of a dust storm on the topside ionosphere, the morphology of the topside ionosphere, the behavior of the M1 layer, and possible meteoric layers. The dust storm that waned over the course of the primary mission (November-December 1971) had major effects on the ionosphere of Mars. It elevated the M1 and M2 layers of the ionosphere by 20-30 km, but the separation of the two layers stayed fixed throughout the primary mission, which suggests that the neutral atmosphere at these altitudes was not heated during the dust storm. However, the altitude of the 1500 cm −3 density level, a proxy for the top of the ionosphere, decreased steadily by 74 ± 12 km over the course of the primary mission. Mariner 9 observations of the topside ionosphere differ from comparable Mars Express observations. Compared to Mars Express, the Mariner 9 data, which were acquired during a period of relatively high solar wind dynamic pressure, have lower densities at high altitudes. They are also more likely to have a "one scale height" morphology than a "two scale height" morphology. The peak density of the M1 layer depends on solar zenith angle and solar irradiance similarly to previous studies with Mars Global Surveyor observations, which indicates that dust storms do not affect the behavior of the peak density. No clear meteoric layers were identified.

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Section: Effects Of a Dust Storm On The Topside Ionospherementioning

confidence: 82%

Section: Recovery Of Mariner 9 Electron Density Profilesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Recovery Of Mariner 9 Electron Density Profilesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Recovery Of Mariner 9 Electron Density Profilesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Recovery and validation of Mars ionospheric electron density profiles from Mariner 9

2015

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“…The occultation data and the spectrometer measurements data were received at the deep space stations at Goldstone, California, Woomera, Australia, and Cebreros, Spain (Kliore et al, 1972b). …”

Section: S-band Radio Occultationmentioning

confidence: 99%