The Martian Atmospheric Boundary Layer

Abstract

[1] The planetary boundary layer (PBL) represents the part of the atmosphere that is strongly influenced by the presence of the underlying surface and mediates the key interactions between the atmosphere and the surface. On Mars, this represents the lowest 10 km of the atmosphere during the daytime. This portion of the atmosphere is extremely important, both scientifically and operationally, because it is the region within which surface lander spacecraft must operate and also determines exchanges of heat, momentum, dust, water, and other tracers between surface and subsurface reservoirs and the free atmosphere. To date, this region of the atmosphere has been studied directly, by instrumented lander spacecraft, and from orbital remote sensing, though not to the extent that is necessary to fully constrain its character and behavior. Current data strongly suggest that as for the Earth's PBL, classical Monin-Obukhov similarity theory applies reasonably well to the Martian PBL under most conditions, though with some intriguing differences relating to the lower atmospheric density at the Martian surface and the likely greater role of direct radiative heating of the atmosphere within the PBL itself. Most of the modeling techniques used for the PBL on Earth are also being applied to the Martian PBL, including novel uses of very high resolution large eddy simulation methods. We conclude with those aspects of the PBL that require new measurements in order to constrain models and discuss the extent to which anticipated missions to Mars in the near future will fulfill these requirements.

Evaluating the Wind-Induced Mechanical Noise on the InSight Seismometers

“…Eventually (at higher frequencies), the inertial regime moves into the dissipation regime and the spectrum should fall off very steeply because the viscosity strongly damps out the eddies. The high frequency end of the inertial regime is, therefore, set by the Kolmogorov length which, due to the very low atmospheric density, is much larger on Mars than on Earth (Larsen et al 2002;Petrosyan et al 2011). In consequence, the extent of the inertial regime is greatly reduced on Mars.…”

“…The Viking Lander wind speed measurement accuracy has been reported as ±15% for wind speeds over 2 ms −1 (Chamberlain et al 1976;Petrosyan et al 2011) and the Phoenix wind speed measurements were expected to be reliable in the 2-10 ms −1 range (Gunnlaugsson et al 2008). However, a simple description of the wind sensor's resolution and accuracy is not readily available (Holstein-Rathlou et al 2010;Gunnlaugsson et al 2008;Chamberlain et al 1976).…”

Dust Devil Sediment Transport: From Lab to Field to Global Impact

“…When dust devils inject dust to great heights, through the deep planetary boundary layer (Petrosyan et al 2011) and into the free atmosphere, it can be advected to much greater heights by the global circulation and reach 80 km altitude or more. This dust is rapidly mixed and thus is indistinguishable from that injected by any other source.…”

Variabilidad estacional e interanual de la radiación solar en las coordenadas de aterrizaje de Spirit, Opportunity y Curiosity

“…This energy budget determines the diurnal cycle of the temperature of the ground (Savijärvi and Kauhanen, 2008;Martínez et al, 2009), which in turn affects the thermodynamic activity in the planetary boundary layer (Martínez et al, 2011). As an example, dust devils are more frequent on Mars when the insolation is higher and therefore the surface is warmer, being therefore more frequent on Summer than at other times of the year (Petrosyan et al, 2011).…”