| Name: | Jagabandhu Panda |
| Affiliation: | National Institute of Technology Rourkela |
| Conference ID: | ASI2025_284 |
| Title: | Martian clouds and their association with atmospheric dust distribution, dynamics and thermodynamics |
| Authors: | Jagabandhu PandaA1 and Bijay Kumar GuhaB2 |
| Authors Affiliation: | 1Author A Affiliation - Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, National Institute of Technology Rourkela, Odisha, India
2Author B Affiliation - National Space Science and Technology Center, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates |
| Mode of Presentation: | Oral |
| Abstract Category: | Sun, Solar System, Exoplanets, and Astrobiology |
| Abstract: | Martian clouds are distinctive in nature compared to Earth’s atmosphere. They appear in the tropics as Aphelion Cloud Belt (ACB) or tropical cloud belt (TCB), as water ice clouds over volcanos, as polar hood clouds over poles, etc., in Martian atmosphere. The atmospheric dusts interact with these clouds in an interesting manner, i.e., either dynamically and microphysically. Also, atmospheric thermodynamic characteristics play a significant role in governing these interactions. The objective of this study is to comprehend the Martian cloud characteristics in general and elucidate its association with dust distribution and atmospheric thermodynamics. Observations from Mars Climate Sounder (MCS) and Mars Color Imager (MARCI) onboard Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), and Mars Color Camera (MCC) onboard Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) would be used besides the numerical modeling outputs from MarsWRF. The satellite observations helped in understanding the sub-seasonal, seasonal and inter-annual variability of clouds and the microphysical interaction between dust and water ice enabling the analysis of TCB evolution. Besides, the influence of upper tropospheric dust is realized for the northward evolution of TCB. A strong association of high altitude dustiness with orographic clouds relating to Arsia and Olympus Mons. Thick and thin clouds observed in the volcanic mountainous regions of Arsia and Olympus Mons have distinct characteristics. While the thick clouds are realized to be part of ACB, the thin clouds are found to be influenced by vertical advection. MarsWRF helped in isolating this type of dynamical influence of dust-laden vertical transport supported by mountain-induced regional circulation during the perihelion season. Besides upper tropospheric dustiness, the atmospheric thermodynamics is realized to have an association with ACB and TCB’s evolution too. The study also comprehended an indirect impact of global dust loading in the north polar atmosphere during a global dust storm scenario. |
