Thermal tides during the 2001 Martian global-scale dust storm

Abstract

The 2001 (Mars Year 25) global dust storm radically altered the dynamics of the Martian atmosphere. Using observations from the Thermal Emission Spectrometer onboard the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft and MarsWRF general circulation model simulations, we examine the changes to thermal tides and planetary waves caused by the storm. We find that the extratropical diurnal migrating tide is dramatically enhanced during the storm, particularly in the southern hemisphere, reaching amplitudes of more than 20K. The tropical diurnal migrating tide is weakened to almost undetectable levels. The diurnal Kelvin waves are also significantly weakened, particularly during the period of global expansion at Ls=200-210. In contrast, the westward propagating diurnal wavenumber 2 tide strengthens to 4-8K at altitudes above 30km. The wavenumber 1 stationary wave reaches amplitudes of 10-12K at 50-70N, far larger than is typically seen during this time of year. The phase of this stationary wave and the enhancement of the diurnal wavenumber 2 tide appear to be responses to the high-altitude westward propagating equatorial wavenumber 1 structure in dust mixing ratio observed during the storm in previous works. This work provides a global picture of dust storm wave dynamics that reveals the coupling between the tropics and high-latitude wave responses. We conclude that the zonal distribution of thermotidal forcing from atmospheric aerosol concentration is as important to understanding the atmospheric wave response as the total global mean aerosol optical depth. Key Points The zonal distribution of dust forcing is key to understanding wave response The zonal wavenumber 1 pattern of dust forcing is the key mechanism High-latitude wave response is coupled to that of the tropics ©2014. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.