Multi-model Meteorological and Aeolian Predictions for Mars 2020 and the Jezero Crater Region
Abstract
Nine simulations are used to predict the meteorology and aeolian activity of the Mars 2020 landing site region. Predicted seasonal variations of pressure and surface and atmospheric temperature generally agree. Minimum and maximum pressure is predicted at Ls∼145∘ and 250∘, respectively. Maximum and minimum surface and atmospheric temperature are predicted at Ls∼180∘ and 270∘, respectively; i.e., are warmest at northern fall equinox not summer solstice. Daily pressure cycles vary more between simulations, possibly due to differences in atmospheric dust distributions. Jezero crater sits inside and close to the NW rim of the huge Isidis basin, whose daytime upslope (∼east-southeasterly) and nighttime downslope (∼northwesterly) winds are predicted to dominate except around summer solstice, when the global circulation produces more southerly wind directions. Wind predictions vary hugely, with annual maximum speeds varying from 11 to 19 ms⁻¹ and daily mean wind speeds peaking in the first half of summer for most simulations but in the second half of the year for two. Most simulations predict net annual sand transport toward the WNW, which is generally consistent with aeolian observations, and peak sand fluxes in the first half of summer, with the weakest fluxes around winter solstice due to opposition between the global circulation and daytime upslope winds. However, one simulation predicts transport toward the NW, while another predicts fluxes peaking later and transport toward the WSW. Vortex activity is predicted to peak in summer and dip around winter solstice, and to be greater than at InSight and much greater than in Gale crater.
Additional Information
© The Author(s) 2021. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. Received 20 May 2020; Accepted 26 December 2020; Published 08 February 2021. We are grateful to reviewers Lori Fenton and Mackenzie Day for their detailed and insightful comments that resulted in a greatly improved manuscript. C.E.N. and M.I.R. were supported in this work by NASA Mars 2020 funding under JPL grant number 1514618. C.E.N. would also like to acknowledge the companionship of her beloved cat Sparky and the support of her fantastic mother Brenda during the writing of this manuscript during the COVID-19 pandemic. LMD co-authors F.F. and A.S. acknowledge funding support from Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES) and European Space Agency (ESA) and technical support for the enclosed simulations by E. Millour and L. Montabone. T.B. was supported for this research by an appointment to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Post-doctoral Program at the Ames Research Center administered by Universities Space Research Association (USRA) through a contract with NASA. L.N. and F.D. acknowledge funding support from the European Space Agency (ESA) PROgramme de Développement d'Expériences scientifiques (PRODEX) Office, contract no. Prodex_NOMADMarsScience_C4000121493_2017-2019. M.T.J.'s work was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology under a NASA Mars 2020 grant. R.S.'s work was supported under NASA Mars 2020 grant number 80NM0018F0616. S.R.L. thanks the UK Space Agency for support under grants ST/R001405/1, ST/S00145X/1 and ST/T002913/1. The Mars 2020 Mission: Edited by Kenneth A. Farley, Kenneth H. Williford and Kathryn M. Stack.Attached Files
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 108159
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20210223-144213285
- 1514618
- JPL
- Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES)
- Prodex_NOMADMarsScience_C4000121493_2017-2019
- European Space Agency (ESA)
- NASA Postdoctoral Program
- NASA/JPL/Caltech
- 80NM0018F0616
- NASA
- ST/R001405/1
- Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
- ST/S00145X/1
- Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
- ST/T002913/1
- Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
- Created
-
2021-02-24Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-16Created from EPrint's last_modified field