Physical Properties of Dust in the Martian Atmosphere: Analysis of Contradictions and Possible Ways of Their Resolution |
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| Authors: | Dlugach Zh M Korablev O I Morozhenko A V Moroz V I Petrova E V Rodin A V |
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| Institution: | (1) Main Astronomical Observatory, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Goloseevo, Kiev, 03680, Ukraine;(2) Space Research Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. Profsoyuznaya 84/32, Moscow, 117997, Russia |
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| Abstract: | Atmospheric aerosols play an important role in forming the Martian climate. However, the basic physical properties of the Martian aerosols are still poorly known; there are many contradictions in their estimates. We present an analytical overview of the published results and potentialities of various methods. We consider mineral dust. Zonally averaged data obtained from mapping IR instruments (TES and IRTM) give the optical thickness of mineral aerosols  9 = 0.05–0.1 in the 9- m band for quite atmospheric conditions. There is a problem of comparing these estimates with those obtained in the visible spectral range. We suggest that the commonly used ratio vis/9 >2 depends on the interpretation and it may actually be smaller. The ratio vis/9  1 is in better agreement with the IRIS data (materials like montmorillonite). If we assume that vis/9 = 1 and take into account the nonspherical particle shape, then the interpretation of ground-based integrated polarimetric observations ( < 0.04) can be reconciled with IR measurements from the orbit. However, for thin layers, the sensitivity of both methods to the optical thickness is poorly understood: on the one hand, polarimetry depends on the cloud cover and, on the other hand, the interpretation of IR measurements requires that the atmospheric temperature profile and the surface temperature and emissivity be precisely known. For quite atmospheric conditions, the local optical-thickness estimates obtained by the Bouguer–Lambert–Beer method and from the sky brightness measured from Viking 1 and 2 and Mars Pathfinder landers are much larger: = 0.3–0.6. Estimates of the contrasts in images from theVikingorbiters yield the same values. Thus, there is still a factor of 3 to 10 difference between different groups of optical-thickness estimates for the quiet atmosphere. This difference is probably explained by the contribution of condensation clouds and/or by local/time variations. |
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