P036-05
Gravity Wave Observations by the Mars Science Laboratory REMS Pressure Sensor and Comparison with Mesoscale Atmospheric Modeling with MarsWRF

Thursday, 10 December 2020: 05:46
Virtual
Scott Guzewich1, Manuel de la Torre-Juárez2, Claire E Newman3, Emily Mason4, Michael D Smith1, Nina Miller5 and Alain S.J. Khayat1, (1)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (2)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States, (3)Aeolis Research, Tucson, AZ, United States, (4)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, United States, (5)University of Nevada Reno, Reno, United States
Recorded Presentation
Abstract:
The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Rover Environmental Monitoring System (REMS) pressure sensor has detected a host of atmospheric phenomena, ranging in period from seconds (convective vortices and dust devils), hours (global-scale atmospheric tides), days (baroclinic waves), to seasons (the annual global pressure cycle). Here we identify and analyze wave-like behavior in atmospheric pressure with periods of tens of minutes to hours due to non-tidal atmospheric gravity waves.

We remove the atmospheric tides from the daily REMS pressure signal using an 8th-order harmonic fit and analyze the residual pressure signal to find waves. We analyze the residual pressure signal using wavelets and other techniques. We find a clear seasonal cycle, with pressure wave activity most prevalent during the southern hemisphere spring and summer seasons (i.e., the dusty season around martian perihelion). The wave activity seen in pressure is not replicated in temperature. Pressure gravity wave activity also has a particular pattern diurnally, with the greatest activity (strongest waves) occurring in the late evening (1800-2400 LTST) and a secondary peak in the early morning before dawn, similar to that seen by the InSight pressure sensor. Typical wave amplitudes are on the order of a 1-3 Pa, but occasionally are >10 Pa. The strongest such waves occurred during the Mars Year 34/2018 global dust storm.

We conducted a series of mesoscale atmospheric simulations with the MarsWRF general circulation model to contextualize and compare with the observations. The MarsWRF results generally replicate the REMS observations, with similar seasonal and diurnal patterns and amplitudes to pressure waves.

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