First Assimilation of Atmospheric Temperatures From the Emirates Mars InfraRed Spectrometer

Roland M. B. Young , Ehouarn Millour (1) , François Forget (1) , Michael D. Smith , Mariam Aljaberi , Christopher S. Edwards , Nathan Smith , Saadat Anwar , Philip R. Christensen , Michael J. Wolff

1 LMD - Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (UMR 8539)

We assimilate atmospheric temperatures from the Emirates Mars Infrared Spectrometer on board the Emirates Mars Mission (EMM) into the Mars Planetary Climate Model at the start of EMM's early science phase (Mars Year 36 L_s = 57.34-92.90°). Mars data assimilation benefits significantly from EMM's unique near-hemispheric observations, frequent repeated observations of the same location, and full diurnal cycle coverage. Our analysis verifies well against in-sample temperature observations, and is 1-3 K warmer than Mars Climate Sounder observations. We identify a warm front in concurrent Emirates eXploration Imager observations by correlating an elongated water ice cloud with temperatures and winds in the analysis; the analysis winds are consistent with its observed motion. We also calculate the full horizontal wind diurnal cycle; the zonal flow is weaker and the meridional circulation is stronger than simulating the same time period using the model alone.

Keywords: atmosphere; data assimilation; Emirates Mars Mission; Mars; thermal infrared; weather

Domains: Sciences of the Universe [physics]

Roland M. B. Young, Ehouarn Millour, François Forget, Michael D. Smith, Mariam Aljaberi, et al.. First Assimilation of Atmospheric Temperatures From the Emirates Mars InfraRed Spectrometer. Geophysical Research Letters, 2022, 49, ⟨10.1029/2022GL099656⟩. ⟨insu-03993979⟩