Midlatitude Disturbances in the Martian Atmosphere: A Second Mars Year

Abstract

Time spectral and cross-spectral analyses of Viking Lander 2 meteorological data from the fall and winter seasons of a second Mars annual cycle were conducted to determine transient disturbance characteristics with periods longer than a Martian day. It was found that phase relationships among pressure, wind, and temperature oscillations are similar to those of the first year, and consistent with the expected eastward baroclinic waves centered north of the Lander 2 site. Composites constructed for two highly regular subperiods show no evidence of sharp frontal structures, though pressure and temperature waves are clearly asymmetric, and estimates of wavenumbers and phase speeds are found to be in agreement with those obtained from the spectral analysis.