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The Mars Dust and Water Cycles: Investigating the Influence of Clouds on the Vertical Distribution and Meridional Transport of Dust and Water.The dust and water cycles are critical to the current Martian climate, and they interact with each other through cloud formation. Dust modulates the thermal structure of the atmosphere and thus greatly influences atmospheric circulation. Clouds provide radiative forcing and control the net hemispheric transport of water through the alteration of the vertical distributions of water and dust. Recent advancements in the quality and sophistication of both climate models and observations enable an increased understanding of how the coupling between the dust and water cycles (through cloud formation) impacts the dust and water cycles. We focus here on the effects of clouds on the vertical distributions of dust and water and how those vertical distributions control the net meridional transport of water. We utilize observations of temperature, dust and water ice from the Mars Climate Sounder (MCS) on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and the NASA ARC Mars Global Climate Model (MGCM) to show that the magnitude and nature of the hemispheric exchange of water during NH summer is sensitive to the vertical structure of the simulated aphelion cloud belt. Further, we investigate how clouds influence atmospheric temperatures and thus the vertical structure of the cloud belt. Our goal is to isolate and understand the importance of radiative/dynamic feedbacks due to the physical processes involved with cloud formation and evolution on the current climate of Mars.
Document ID
20170000008
Acquisition Source
Ames Research Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Kahre, M. A.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA United States)
Haberle, R. M.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA United States)
Hollingsworth, J. L.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA United States)
Brecht, A. S.
(Bay Area Environmental Research Inst. Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Urata, R.
(Bay Area Environmental Research Inst. Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
January 3, 2017
Publication Date
November 8, 2015
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
Report/Patent Number
ARC-E-DAA-TN27132
Meeting Information
Meeting: Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS 2015) Meeting
Location: National Harbor, MD
Country: United States
Start Date: November 8, 2015
End Date: November 13, 2015
Sponsors: American Astronomical Society
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX14AE63A
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
Keywords
NASA ARC Mars Global Climate Model (MGCM)
Martian climate
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