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[37.16] Mesoscale Microphysical Modeling of Near-Equatorial Water Ice Clouds on Mars

T. I. Michaels (Southwest Research Institute), A. Colaprete (NASA Ames Research Center), S. C. R. Rafkin (Southwest Research Institute)

Clouds composed of water ice crystals are common in the Martian atmosphere, and betray the presence of the otherwise largely invisible atmospheric transport of water vapor and other aerosols. The locations of these clouds are diverse, and their morphology and temporal evolution are often complex. Many Earth- and space-based observations of Mars clouds have been (and continue to be) made, but taken alone, they are insufficient to understand the four-dimensional (3D space, time) details of the clouds and underlying circulations. In order to begin to bridge this gap, the Mars Regional Atmospheric Modeling System [MRAMS; a three-dimensional, non-hydrostatic mesoscale atmospheric model; incorporates the Mars cloud microphysical (bin) model of Colaprete and Toon (2000)] is used to simulate complex water ice clouds. Some intriguing results are presented, encompassing the structure, causation, and position of regional and localized near-equatorial clouds (especially of the Tharsis Plateau).

The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: tmichael@boulder.swri.edu

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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 #4
© 2004. The American Astronomical Soceity.