Thermal Tides on Mars Before and During the 2018 Global Dust Event as Observed by TIRVIM-ACS Onboard ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter

Abstract

Migrating tides dominate the tropical climate on Mars and are known to reach high amplitudes during global dust events (GDE). In this study, we characterize the amplitude, phase and vertical wavelength of the diurnal and semidiurnal migrating tides in Mars' lower atmosphere (up to 50 km) by exploiting temperature vertical profiles retrieved from TIRVIM, an infrared spectrometer onboard the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter covering multiple local times. Observations from the Mars Climate Sounder onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are used to complement the local time coverage when needed, and to estimate a seasonal trend to subtract from TIRVIM observations. We focus on two time periods in Martian Year 34, near Ls = 150° and near Ls = 200° (during the 2018 GDE). The characteristics of the migrating tides at Ls = 150° agree very well with tidal theory: a downward propagation, amplitudes of typically 2–5 K, and a larger vertical wavelength for the semidiurnal compared to the diurnal mode. Comparisons with model predictions from the Mars Planetary Climate Model reveal an excellent agreement, except for a slightly different phase of the diurnal tide. During the GDE, the tide pattern changes spectacularly: the diurnal tide amplitude reaches 35 K at 65°S and 17 K at 50°N, being vertically trapped up to 10 Pa. The semidiurnal tide is maximum near 20–30°S with an amplitude of 8–12 K. The phase of this mode is tilted with latitude, which was not the case before the storm. This indicates a significant contribution of the asymmetric Hough modes due to hemispheric asymmetry in the dust distribution.