Stormy water on Mars: The distribution and saturation of atmospheric water during the dusty season

Anna A. Fedorova; Franck Montmessin; Oleg Korablev; Mikhail Luginin; Alexander Trokhimovskiy; Denis A. Belyaev; Nikolay I. Ignatiev; Franck Lefèvre; Juan Alday; Patrick G.J. Irwin; Kevin S. Olsen; Jean Loup Bertaux; Ehouarn Millour; Anni Määttänen; Alexey Shakun; Alexey V. Grigoriev; Andrey Patrakeev; Svyatoslav Korsa; Nikita Kokonkov; Lucio Baggio; Francois Forget; Colin F. Wilson

doi:10.1126/science.aay9522

Stormy water on Mars: The distribution and saturation of atmospheric water during the dusty season

Anna A. Fedorova^*, Franck Montmessin, Oleg Korablev, Mikhail Luginin, Alexander Trokhimovskiy, Denis A. Belyaev, Nikolay I. Ignatiev, Franck Lefèvre, Juan Alday, Patrick G.J. Irwin, Kevin S. Olsen, Jean Loup Bertaux, Ehouarn Millour, Anni Määttänen, Alexey Shakun, Alexey V. Grigoriev, Andrey Patrakeev, Svyatoslav Korsa, Nikita Kokonkov, Lucio BaggioFrancois Forget, Colin F. Wilson

^*Corresponding author for this work

Advanced Instrumentation and Technology Centre

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

126 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The loss of water from Mars to space is thought to result from the transport of water to the upper atmosphere, where it is dissociated to hydrogen and escapes the planet. Recent observations have suggested large, rapid seasonal intrusions of water into the upper atmosphere, boosting the hydrogen abundance. We use the Atmospheric Chemistry Suite on the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter to characterize the water distribution by altitude. Water profiles during the 2018–2019 southern spring and summer stormy seasons show that high-altitude water is preferentially supplied close to perihelion, and supersaturation occurs even when clouds are present. This implies that the potential for water to escape from Mars is higher than previously thought.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	297-300
Number of pages	4
Journal	Science
Volume	367
Issue number	6475
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aay9522
Publication status	Published - 17 Jan 2020

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Fedorova, A. A., Montmessin, F., Korablev, O., Luginin, M., Trokhimovskiy, A., Belyaev, D. A., Ignatiev, N. I., Lefèvre, F., Alday, J., Irwin, P. G. J., Olsen, K. S., Bertaux, J. L., Millour, E., Määttänen, A., Shakun, A., Grigoriev, A. V., Patrakeev, A., Korsa, S., Kokonkov, N., ... Wilson, C. F. (2020). Stormy water on Mars: The distribution and saturation of atmospheric water during the dusty season. Science, 367(6475), 297-300. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aay9522

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title = "Stormy water on Mars: The distribution and saturation of atmospheric water during the dusty season",

abstract = "The loss of water from Mars to space is thought to result from the transport of water to the upper atmosphere, where it is dissociated to hydrogen and escapes the planet. Recent observations have suggested large, rapid seasonal intrusions of water into the upper atmosphere, boosting the hydrogen abundance. We use the Atmospheric Chemistry Suite on the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter to characterize the water distribution by altitude. Water profiles during the 2018–2019 southern spring and summer stormy seasons show that high-altitude water is preferentially supplied close to perihelion, and supersaturation occurs even when clouds are present. This implies that the potential for water to escape from Mars is higher than previously thought.",

author = "Fedorova, {Anna A.} and Franck Montmessin and Oleg Korablev and Mikhail Luginin and Alexander Trokhimovskiy and Belyaev, {Denis A.} and Ignatiev, {Nikolay I.} and Franck Lef{\`e}vre and Juan Alday and Irwin, {Patrick G.J.} and Olsen, {Kevin S.} and Bertaux, {Jean Loup} and Ehouarn Millour and Anni M{\"a}{\"a}tt{\"a}nen and Alexey Shakun and Grigoriev, {Alexey V.} and Andrey Patrakeev and Svyatoslav Korsa and Nikita Kokonkov and Lucio Baggio and Francois Forget and Wilson, {Colin F.}",

year = "2020",

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doi = "10.1126/science.aay9522",

language = "English",

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Fedorova, AA, Montmessin, F, Korablev, O, Luginin, M, Trokhimovskiy, A, Belyaev, DA, Ignatiev, NI, Lefèvre, F, Alday, J, Irwin, PGJ, Olsen, KS, Bertaux, JL, Millour, E, Määttänen, A, Shakun, A, Grigoriev, AV, Patrakeev, A, Korsa, S, Kokonkov, N, Baggio, L, Forget, F & Wilson, CF 2020, 'Stormy water on Mars: The distribution and saturation of atmospheric water during the dusty season', Science, vol. 367, no. 6475, pp. 297-300. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aay9522

TY - JOUR

T1 - Stormy water on Mars

T2 - The distribution and saturation of atmospheric water during the dusty season

AU - Fedorova, Anna A.

AU - Montmessin, Franck

AU - Korablev, Oleg

AU - Luginin, Mikhail

AU - Trokhimovskiy, Alexander

AU - Belyaev, Denis A.

AU - Ignatiev, Nikolay I.

AU - Lefèvre, Franck

AU - Alday, Juan

AU - Irwin, Patrick G.J.

AU - Olsen, Kevin S.

AU - Bertaux, Jean Loup

AU - Millour, Ehouarn

AU - Määttänen, Anni

AU - Shakun, Alexey

AU - Grigoriev, Alexey V.

AU - Patrakeev, Andrey

AU - Korsa, Svyatoslav

AU - Kokonkov, Nikita

AU - Baggio, Lucio

AU - Forget, Francois

AU - Wilson, Colin F.

PY - 2020/1/17

Y1 - 2020/1/17

N2 - The loss of water from Mars to space is thought to result from the transport of water to the upper atmosphere, where it is dissociated to hydrogen and escapes the planet. Recent observations have suggested large, rapid seasonal intrusions of water into the upper atmosphere, boosting the hydrogen abundance. We use the Atmospheric Chemistry Suite on the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter to characterize the water distribution by altitude. Water profiles during the 2018–2019 southern spring and summer stormy seasons show that high-altitude water is preferentially supplied close to perihelion, and supersaturation occurs even when clouds are present. This implies that the potential for water to escape from Mars is higher than previously thought.

AB - The loss of water from Mars to space is thought to result from the transport of water to the upper atmosphere, where it is dissociated to hydrogen and escapes the planet. Recent observations have suggested large, rapid seasonal intrusions of water into the upper atmosphere, boosting the hydrogen abundance. We use the Atmospheric Chemistry Suite on the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter to characterize the water distribution by altitude. Water profiles during the 2018–2019 southern spring and summer stormy seasons show that high-altitude water is preferentially supplied close to perihelion, and supersaturation occurs even when clouds are present. This implies that the potential for water to escape from Mars is higher than previously thought.

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DO - 10.1126/science.aay9522

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VL - 367

SP - 297

EP - 300

JO - Science

JF - Science

IS - 6475

ER -

Stormy water on Mars: The distribution and saturation of atmospheric water during the dusty season

Abstract

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