Tides in the Martian Atmosphere as Observed by MAVEN IUVS

Abstract:

Driven by the diurnal solar heating, atmospheric tides are global scale oscillations in density, pressure and temperature. They are responsible for a large fraction of the variability of the atmosphere and the circulation and transport processes that stem from this variability. Here we present first observations of tides in the Martian atmosphere from the Mars Atmospheric and Volatile EvolutioN Mission (MAVEN) Imaging UltraViolet Spectrograph (IUVS). CO₂⁺ (B²Σ⁺→X^2Π) UV doublet emission intensities are isolated from limb profiles over the 100-190 km altitude range using a multiple linear regression procedure, and CO₂ densities are then obtained by fitting a Chapman layer. Variations of the CO₂ density exhibit significant persistent structure with longitudinal wavenumbers 1, 2 and 3 in a fixed local solar time frame, and such a structure points to non-migrating tides. Specific tidal modes are identified through analysis of the amplitudes and phases of the various wavenumber components and their variation with latitude. The wave-2 component is dominated by the diurnal eastward-moving DE1 tide at the equator and the diurnal stationary D0 tide at the midlatitudes. Wave-3 is dominated by the diurnal eastward-moving DE2 tide, with an unknown tide becoming dominant north of 30°N. Structure in the wave-1 component can be explained by the semidiurnal westward-moving SW1 tide. Our observations are consistent with past observations by Mars Express SPectroscopy for Investigation of Characteristics of the Atmosphere of Mars (SPICAM) [Withers et al., 2011], Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) aerobraking data [Withers et al., 2003; Moudden and Forbes, 2008] and MGS electron density measurements [Cahoy et al., 2007].