ORCID Profile
0000-0003-1393-5297
Current Organisation
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
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Publisher: Research Square Platform LLC
Date: 22-06-2022
DOI: 10.21203/RS.3.RS-1634885/V1
Abstract: Perseverance's Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA) is collecting data at Jezero Crater, characterizing the physical processes in the lowest layer of the atmosphere as no previous instrument did before. Here we show that temperature measurements at four heights capture the response of the atmospheric surface layer to multiple phenomena. We observe the transition from a stable nighttime thermal inversion to a diurnal, highly turbulent convective regime, with large vertical thermal gradients, and where local surface properties (such as Thermal Inertia) play an essential role. Recording multiple daily optical depths yielded higher aerosol concentrations in the morning than in the afternoon. Measured wind patterns are mainly driven by local topography, with a small contribution from regional winds. Daily and seasonal variability of relative humidity shows a complex hydrologic cycle. These observations raise new puzzles in which changes in surface albedo and thermal inertia may play an influential role. On a larger scale, surface pressure shows typical signatures of gravity waves and baroclinic eddies in a part of the seasonal cycle characterized before as low wave activity. These observations, combined and simultaneous, show the rich Jezero’s meteorology, and unveil the ersity of processes driving change on today’s Martian surface.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 13-06-2022
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 2023
DOI: 10.1038/S41561-022-01084-0
Abstract: NASA’s Perseverance rover’s Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer is collecting data at Jezero crater, characterizing the physical processes in the lowest layer of the Martian atmosphere. Here we present measurements from the instrument’s first 250 sols of operation, revealing a spatially and temporally variable meteorology at Jezero. We find that temperature measurements at four heights capture the response of the atmospheric surface layer to multiple phenomena. We observe the transition from a stable night-time thermal inversion to a daytime, highly turbulent convective regime, with large vertical thermal gradients. Measurement of multiple daily optical depths suggests aerosol concentrations are higher in the morning than in the afternoon. Measured wind patterns are driven mainly by local topography, with a small contribution from regional winds. Daily and seasonal variability of relative humidity shows a complex hydrologic cycle. These observations suggest that changes in some local surface properties, such as surface albedo and thermal inertia, play an influential role. On a larger scale, surface pressure measurements show typical signatures of gravity waves and baroclinic eddies in a part of the seasonal cycle previously characterized as low wave activity. These observations, both combined and simultaneous, unveil the ersity of processes driving change on today’s Martian surface at Jezero crater.
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 09-09-2022
DOI: 10.1029/2022GL099776
Abstract: Observations by several cameras on the Perseverance rover showed a 22° scattering halo around the Sun over several hours during northern midsummer (solar longitude 142°). Such a halo has not previously been seen beyond Earth. The halo occurred during the aphelion cloud belt season and the cloudiest time yet observed from the Perseverance site. The halo required crystalline water‐ice cloud particles in the form of hexagonal columns large enough for refraction to be significant, at least 11 μm in diameter and length. From a possible 40–50 km altitude, and over the 3.3 hr duration of the halo, particles could have fallen 3–12 km, causing downward transport of water and dust. Halo‐forming clouds are likely rare due to the high supersaturation of water that is required but may be more common in northern subtropical regions during northern midsummer.
No related grants have been discovered for Manuel de la Torre Juarez.