Near Surface Atmospheric Temperatures at Jezero From Mars 2020 MEDA Measurements
Ikusi/ Ireki
Data
2023-03Egilea
de la Torre Juárez, Manuel
Martínez, Germán M.
Newman, Claire E.
Sebastián, Eduardo
Lepinette, Alain
Vicente Retortillo, Álvaro
Chide, Baptiste
Lemmon, Mark T.
Bertrand, Tanguy
Lorenz, Ralph D.
Banfield, Don
Gómez Elvira, Javier
Martín Soler, J.
Navarro, Sara
Plá García, Jorge
Rodríguez Manfredi, José Antonio
Romeral, J.
Smith, Michael D.
Torres, J.
JGR Planets 128(3) : (2023) // Article ID e2022JE007559
Laburpena
The Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer instrument on Mars 2020 has five Atmospheric Temperature Sensors at two altitudes (0.84 and 1.45 m) plus a Thermal InfraRed Sensor that measures temperatures on the surface and at ∼40 m. We analyze the measurements from these sensors to describe the evolution of temperatures in Jezero up to mission sol 400 (solar longitude LS = 13°–203°). The diurnal thermal cycle is characterized by a daytime convective period and a nocturnal stable atmosphere with a variable thermal inversion. We find a linear relationship between the daytime temperature fluctuations and the vertical thermal gradient with temperature fluctuations that peak at noon with typical values of 2.5 K at 1.45 m. In the late afternoon (∼17:00 Local True Solar Time), the atmosphere becomes vertically isothermal with vanishing fluctuations. We observe very small seasonal changes in air temperatures during the period analyzed. This is related to small changes in solar irradiation and dust opacity. However, we find significant changes in surface temperatures that are related to the variety of thermal inertias of the terrains explored along the traverse of Perseverance. These changes strongly influence the vertical thermal gradient, breaking the nighttime thermal inversion over terrains of high thermal inertia. We explore possible detections of atmospheric tides on near-surface temperatures and we examine variations in temperatures over timescales of a few sols that could be indicative of atmospheric waves affecting near-surface temperatures. We also discuss temperatures during a regional dust storm at LS = 153°–156° that simultaneously warmed the near surface atmosphere while cooling the surface.