Synergistic retrieval of H₂ O vapor in Mars' atmosphere: the path to a systematic 3D exploration of H₂O vapor

Franck Montmessin (1) , Stéphane Ferron (2)

1 PLANETO - LATMOS
2 ACRI-ST - Analytic and Computational Research, Inc. - Earth Sciences

Understanding the contemporary water cycle on Mars is a major goal in Mars' climate research. Our study has been conducted with the motivation of optimizing the scientific return of nadir observing instruments which have performed water vapor analysis at various wavelengths on Mars. First, we have evaluated the theoretical performances of jointly analyzing water vapor retrieval in both Thermal Infrared (TIR) and Short Wavelength Infrared (SWIR) ranges (i.e. less than 3 µm). We then proved, by applying our method to actual Mars Express data, that a simultaneous retrieval in the TIR and SWIR of the water vapor abundance is susceptible to provide a very strong constraint on the shape of the water vapor profile. Up to now, only a column-integrated abundance has been derived from nadir observing instruments whereas it appears now possible to derive a second information on water vapor vertical confinement, opening the path to a 3D exploration of water vapor on Mars.

Domains: Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics [physics.ao-ph]

Franck Montmessin, Stéphane Ferron. Synergistic retrieval of H₂ O vapor in Mars' atmosphere: the path to a systematic 3D exploration of H₂O vapor. European Planetary Science Congress 2017, Sep 2017, Riga, Latvia. pp.EPSC2017-221. ⟨insu-01591361⟩