Global characteristics of gravity waves in the upper atmosphere of Mars as measured by MAVEN/NGIMS

A. G. Siddle; I. C.F. Mueller-Wodarg; S. W. Stone; R. V. Yelle

doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2019.05.021

Global characteristics of gravity waves in the upper atmosphere of Mars as measured by MAVEN/NGIMS

A. G. Siddle, I. C.F. Mueller-Wodarg, S. W. Stone, R. V. Yelle

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

45 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present an analysis of gravity waves in Mars' upper atmosphere above 120 km. Using in-situ data from NGIMS onboard MAVEN we have been able to characterise waves from nearly 4000 orbits. We have used temperature and density profiles to extract perturbations and interpret these as vertically propagating gravity waves which we characterise by their amplitude and wavelength. In this region of the atmosphere gravity waves have amplitudes of around 10%. Vertical wavelengths are found to be around 10–30 km. We observe an increase in gravity wave amplitudes with increasing solar zenith angle. Gravity wave amplitudes appear invariant in altitude on the dayside, however increase with altitude on the nightside.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	12-21
Number of pages	10
Journal	Icarus
Volume	333
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2019.05.021
State	Published - Nov 15 2019

Keywords

Gravity waves
MAVEN
Mars
Thermosphere

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Astronomy and Astrophysics
Space and Planetary Science

Access to Document

10.1016/j.icarus.2019.05.021

Cite this

@article{6a5f92d04d7e4bb2abd6f3050540eedd,

title = "Global characteristics of gravity waves in the upper atmosphere of Mars as measured by MAVEN/NGIMS",

abstract = "We present an analysis of gravity waves in Mars' upper atmosphere above 120 km. Using in-situ data from NGIMS onboard MAVEN we have been able to characterise waves from nearly 4000 orbits. We have used temperature and density profiles to extract perturbations and interpret these as vertically propagating gravity waves which we characterise by their amplitude and wavelength. In this region of the atmosphere gravity waves have amplitudes of around 10%. Vertical wavelengths are found to be around 10–30 km. We observe an increase in gravity wave amplitudes with increasing solar zenith angle. Gravity wave amplitudes appear invariant in altitude on the dayside, however increase with altitude on the nightside.",

keywords = "Gravity waves, MAVEN, Mars, Thermosphere",

author = "Siddle, {A. G.} and Mueller-Wodarg, {I. C.F.} and Stone, {S. W.} and Yelle, {R. V.}",

note = "Funding Information: AGS is funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council. SWS and RVY were supported by funding from the MAVEN mission, part of the NASA Mars Exploration Program. The MAVEN data sets are publicly available on the NASA Planetary Data System (PDS, https://pds.nasa.gov ) and the MAVEN Science Data Center (SDC, https://lasp.colorado.edu/maven/sdc/public/ ). We thank the referees for their useful comments. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019 Elsevier Inc.",

year = "2019",

month = nov,

day = "15",

doi = "10.1016/j.icarus.2019.05.021",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "333",

pages = "12--21",

journal = "Icarus",

issn = "0019-1035",

publisher = "Academic Press Inc.",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Global characteristics of gravity waves in the upper atmosphere of Mars as measured by MAVEN/NGIMS

AU - Siddle, A. G.

AU - Mueller-Wodarg, I. C.F.

AU - Stone, S. W.

AU - Yelle, R. V.

N1 - Funding Information: AGS is funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council. SWS and RVY were supported by funding from the MAVEN mission, part of the NASA Mars Exploration Program. The MAVEN data sets are publicly available on the NASA Planetary Data System (PDS, https://pds.nasa.gov ) and the MAVEN Science Data Center (SDC, https://lasp.colorado.edu/maven/sdc/public/ ). We thank the referees for their useful comments. Publisher Copyright: © 2019 Elsevier Inc.

PY - 2019/11/15

Y1 - 2019/11/15

N2 - We present an analysis of gravity waves in Mars' upper atmosphere above 120 km. Using in-situ data from NGIMS onboard MAVEN we have been able to characterise waves from nearly 4000 orbits. We have used temperature and density profiles to extract perturbations and interpret these as vertically propagating gravity waves which we characterise by their amplitude and wavelength. In this region of the atmosphere gravity waves have amplitudes of around 10%. Vertical wavelengths are found to be around 10–30 km. We observe an increase in gravity wave amplitudes with increasing solar zenith angle. Gravity wave amplitudes appear invariant in altitude on the dayside, however increase with altitude on the nightside.

AB - We present an analysis of gravity waves in Mars' upper atmosphere above 120 km. Using in-situ data from NGIMS onboard MAVEN we have been able to characterise waves from nearly 4000 orbits. We have used temperature and density profiles to extract perturbations and interpret these as vertically propagating gravity waves which we characterise by their amplitude and wavelength. In this region of the atmosphere gravity waves have amplitudes of around 10%. Vertical wavelengths are found to be around 10–30 km. We observe an increase in gravity wave amplitudes with increasing solar zenith angle. Gravity wave amplitudes appear invariant in altitude on the dayside, however increase with altitude on the nightside.

KW - Gravity waves

KW - MAVEN

KW - Mars

KW - Thermosphere

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85066300998&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85066300998&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.icarus.2019.05.021

DO - 10.1016/j.icarus.2019.05.021

M3 - Article

SN - 0019-1035

VL - 333

SP - 12

EP - 21

JO - Icarus

JF - Icarus

ER -

Global characteristics of gravity waves in the upper atmosphere of Mars as measured by MAVEN/NGIMS

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this