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A. Maturilli, V. Formisano, F. Altieri (Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario - CNR)
We have performed a statistical study of TES data to understand the presence of dust in the Martian atmosphere, both with and without a large dust storm. We defined two parameters: D, the depth of the dust band measured as a percentage of the Planck radiance for the ground temperature (already used to classify IRIS data); and G, as the percentage of the CO2 band depth. These two parameters provide a very useful way to characterize the dust content of the atmosphere of Mars. We studied separately data taken in two different periods: one without a regional dust storm, and one with such a storm. The behavior of D and G shows that the ground temperature controls the Martian atmospheric dust content, probably by means of dust devils, when large dust storms are absent.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: maturi@sunbice.ifsi.rm.cnr.it