Solar heating of the Martian dusty atmosphere |
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| Authors: | Richard W Zurek |
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| Institution: | Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91103, USA |
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| Abstract: | This paper examines the solar heating of the Martian atmosphere during the 1971 global dust storm observed by Mariner 9. Radiative scattering as well as absorption is included by utilizing the delta-Eddington approximation to the full radiative transfer equation. The necessary optical parameters are generated by a Mie program which uses a size distribution and a complex refractive index inferred from a number of sources, particularly from recent analyces of Mariner 9 UVS and TV observations. Assuming uniform mixing of the dust, the solar heating per unit mass during a Martian global dust storm is remarkably uniform with height for small solar zenith angles. Heating rates may reach 80°K day? for overhead sunlight. Overall, 20% of the direct insolation is absorbed by the dust-laden atmosphere. Even optically thin widespread dust hazes may produce heating rates of several degrees Kelvin per day. |
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