Some effects of global dust storms on the atmospheric circulation of Mars

Abstract The response of the Martian atmosphere to various dust loads and the ability of its meridional circulation to transport dust globally are numerically simulated using a zonally symmetric primitive equation model on a sphere. The circulation is driven by heating due to the absorption of solar and infrared radiation by dust and CO2, as well as sensible heat exchange with the ground. Small-scale vertical mixing is parameterized from linear diffusion theory, and transport by large-scale wave motions is ignored. In a preliminary experiment, the model distribution of winds and temperature is found to compare favorably with zonally averaged values from a general circulation model. Subsequent experiments show that the introduction of dust into the atmosphere at northern winter solstice causes a significant strengthening and expansion of the circulation, and a reduction in the deposition of CO2 frost onto the north polar cap. Only minor changes in the circulation occur for global optical depths greater than 5. Experiments that simulate the evolution of global dust storms show that dust is very effectively transported by the zonal mean circulation which rapidly intensifies as the dust spreads. It is also found that the basic structure of the circulation is relatively insensitive to details of the dust distribution, and depends most strongly on the heating (dust content) of the tropical and subtropical atmosphere. Model temperatures agree well with observations ex except at high northern latitudes where simulated temperatures are too low. This is attributed to the inability of the circulation to extend its descending branch into polar regions, which subsequently recieve very little dust in the transport experiments. Several candidate mechanisms potentially important to the dynamics of polar regions during global dust storms are discussed.

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