The Dynamic Environment of Jezero Crater, Mars
Claire Newman
(1)
,
Victor Apestigue
(2)
,
Ignacio Arruego
(2)
,
Mariah Baker
(3)
,
Don Banfield
(4)
,
James Bell
(5)
,
Baptiste Chide
(6)
,
Pan Conrad
(7)
,
Manuel de la Torre Juarez
(8)
,
Teresa del Rio-Gaztelurrutia
(9)
,
Javier Gomez-Elvira
(10)
,
Erik Fischer
(11)
,
Thierry Fouchet
(12)
,
Raymond Francis
(8)
,
Felipe Gomez
(10)
,
Ken Herkenhoff
(13)
,
Ricardo Hueso
(14)
,
Mark Lemmon
(15)
,
Ralph Lorenz
(16)
,
Justin Maki
(8)
,
German Martinez
(17)
,
Timothy Mcconnochie
(18)
,
David Mimoun
(19)
,
Franck Montmessin
(20)
,
Naomi Murdoch
(19)
,
Sara Navarro
(10)
,
Priyaben Patel
(21)
,
Jorge Pla-Garcia
(10)
,
Jose Antonio Rodriguez Manfredi
(10)
,
Agustin Sanchez-Lavega
(9)
,
Alexander Stott
(19)
,
Rob Sullivan
(4)
,
Leslie Tamppari
(8)
,
Christian Tate
(4)
,
Alvaro Vicente-Retortillo
(10)
,
Daniel Viudez-Moreiras
(10)
,
Roger Wiens
(22)
,
Mike Wolff
(15)
,
Maria-Paz Zorzano
(10)
,
Daniel Toledo
(2)
1
Aeolis Research
2 INTA - Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial
3 Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
4 Cornell University [New York]
5 ASU - Arizona State University [Tempe]
6 IRAP - Institut de recherche en astrophysique et planétologie
7 Carnegie Institution for Science
8 JPL - Jet Propulsion Laboratory
9 UPV - Universitat Politècnica de València = Universitad Politecnica de Valencia = Polytechnic University of Valencia
10 CAB - Centro de Astrobiologia [Madrid]
11 University of Michigan [Ann Arbor]
12 LESIA - Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique
13 USGS - United States Geological Survey
14 UPV/EHU - Universidad del Pais Vasco / Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea [Espagne]
15 SSI - Space Science Institute [Boulder]
16 APL - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory [Laurel, MD]
17 LPI - Lunar and Planetary Institute [Houston]
18 University of Maryland [Baltimore]
19 ISAE-SUPAERO - Institut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace
20 PLANETO - LATMOS
21 UCL - University College of London [London]
22 LANL - Los Alamos National Laboratory
2 INTA - Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial
3 Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
4 Cornell University [New York]
5 ASU - Arizona State University [Tempe]
6 IRAP - Institut de recherche en astrophysique et planétologie
7 Carnegie Institution for Science
8 JPL - Jet Propulsion Laboratory
9 UPV - Universitat Politècnica de València = Universitad Politecnica de Valencia = Polytechnic University of Valencia
10 CAB - Centro de Astrobiologia [Madrid]
11 University of Michigan [Ann Arbor]
12 LESIA - Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique
13 USGS - United States Geological Survey
14 UPV/EHU - Universidad del Pais Vasco / Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea [Espagne]
15 SSI - Space Science Institute [Boulder]
16 APL - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory [Laurel, MD]
17 LPI - Lunar and Planetary Institute [Houston]
18 University of Maryland [Baltimore]
19 ISAE-SUPAERO - Institut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace
20 PLANETO - LATMOS
21 UCL - University College of London [London]
22 LANL - Los Alamos National Laboratory
Thierry Fouchet
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 756578
- IdHAL : thierry-fouchet
- ORCID : 0000-0001-9040-8285
- IdRef : 089352556
Franck Montmessin
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 174267
- IdHAL : franck-montmessin
- ORCID : 0000-0002-4187-1457
- IdRef : 092850618
Abstract
Since the Perseverance rover's arrival in February 2021, atmospheric and aeolian observations by a wide range of rover instruments have revealed a highly dynamic environment in Jezero crater. The Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA) carries a large suite of meteorological sensors, including pressure, surface temperature and atmospheric temperature at three heights, relative humidity, and wind speed and direction, as well as sensors dedicated to measuring aerosol abundance and properties, and (for the first time on Mars) upward and downward visible and infrared radiative fluxes. The SuperCam instrument has been used to measure atmospheric gas and aerosol abundances and aerosol properties, and also carries the first microphone operating on the martian surface, which has been used to measure very high frequency wind variations. Further, Mastcam-Z and the rover's engineering cameras have been used to retrieve aerosol abundances and properties, to observe clouds, dust devils, and dust lifting, and to observe aeolian features at the surface.
Perseverance's wind measurements reveal diurnal and seasonal patterns of winds driven by the global and regional Isidis basin circulation, as well as significant sol-to-sol variability and strong wind gusts that may be associated with vigorous daytime convection cells being advected over the crater. These may also be linked to several strong dust lifting events imaged since landing. Measurements of pressure, temperature, wind, and radiative fluxes by MEDA sensors have been used to identify and even track the passage of vortices and dust devils, while rover cameras have caught numerous dust devils in images. Surface features such as regolith wind tails and ventifacts also indicate major aeolian activity inside the crater, although their orientations and morphology suggest the ventifacts may have formed under past climate conditions.
Collectively, these observations show Jezero crater to be one of the most dynamic environments we have visited on Mars. In this presentation we will examine the diurnal, sol-to-sol, and seasonal variations of winds, wind gusts, and vortices; explore how these changes may be controlled by solar insolation, local topography, atmospheric waves, and regional and global-scale circulations; and relate these observations to observed dust lifting and aeolian features.