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Detailed Reference Information |
Hinson, D.P. and Wilson, R.J. (2002). Transient eddies in the southern hemisphere of Mars. Geophysical Research Letters 29: doi: 10.1029/2001GL014103. issn: 0094-8276. |
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Mars Global Surveyor is providing the first observations of transient eddies in the southern hemisphere of Mars. We derive basic properties of the traveling eddies that appear in midwinter (Ls = 134¿--148¿) through analysis of radio occultation measurements at 67¿--70¿S latitude. The dominant mode has a period of ~2 solar days and a zonal wavenumber s = 3. Strong zonal variations in eddy amplitude signal the presence of a possible storm zone at 150¿--330¿E longitude. Within this longitude band the eddies achieve peak amplitudes at the 300-Pa pressure level of ~7 K in temperature and 10--15 m s-1 in meridional wind speed. The minimum temperature associated with the eddies is ~2 K colder than saturation of CO2, close to the threshold where nucleation and growth of new ice particles can occur. A simulation by a Mars general circulation model produces traveling eddies that closely resemble the observations. |
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Abstract |
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Keywords
Planetary Sciences, Atmospheres--structure and dynamics, Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics, Planetary meteorology (5445, 5739), Planetary Sciences, Meteorology, Planetology, Solar System Objects, Mars |
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Publisher
American Geophysical Union 2000 Florida Avenue N.W. Washington, D.C. 20009-1277 USA 1-202-462-6900 1-202-328-0566 service@agu.org |
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