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The winter polar vortices on Mars are annular in terms of their potentialvorticity (PV) structure, a phenomenon identified in observations, reanalysisand some numerical simulations. Some recent modeling studies have proposed thatcondensation of atmospheric carbon dioxide at the winter pole is a contributingfactor to maintaining the annulus through the release of latent heat. Dust andtopographic forcing are also known to be causes of internal and interannualvariability in the polar vortices. However, coupling between these factorsremains uncertain, and previous studies of their impact on vortex structure andvariability have been largely limited to a single Martian global climate model(MGCM). Here, by further developing a novel MGCM, we decompose the relativeroles of latent heat and dust as drivers for the variability and structure ofthe northern Martian polar vortex. We also consider how Martian topographymodifies the driving response. By also analyzing a reanalysis dataset we showthat there is significant dependence in the polar vortex structure andvariability on the observations assimilated. In both model and reanalysis, highatmospheric dust loading (such as that seen during a global dust storm) candisrupt the vortex, cause the destruction of PV in the low-mid altitudes (> 0.1hPa), and significantly reduce spatial and temporal vortex variability. Throughour simulations, we find that the combination of dust and topography primarilydrives the eddy activity throughout the Martian year, and that although latentheat release can produce an annular vortex, it has a relatively minor effect onvortex variability.

The roles of latent heating and dust in the structure and variability of the northern Martian polar vortex