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Cyclones, tides, and the origin of a cross‐equatorial dust storm on Mars
Author(s) -
Wang Huiqun,
Richardson Mark I.,
Wilson R. John,
Ingersoll Andrew P.,
Toigo Anthony D.,
Zurek Richard W.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2002gl016828
Subject(s) - storm , northern hemisphere , mars exploration program , atmospheric sciences , dust storm , climatology , hadley cell , tropical cyclone , environmental science , geology , atmosphere of mars , martian , general circulation model , oceanography , climate change , physics , astronomy
We investigate the triggering mechanism of a cross‐equatorial dust storm observed by Mars Global Surveyor in 1999. This storm, which had a significant impact on global mean temperatures, was seen in visible and infrared data to commence with the transport of linear dust fronts from the northern high latitudes into the southern tropics. However, other similar transport events observed in northern fall and winter did not lead to large dust storms. Based on off‐line Lagrangian particle transport analysis using a high resolution Mars general circulation model, we propose a simple explanation for the diurnal, seasonal and interannual variability of this type of frontal activity, and of the resulting dust storms, that highlights the cooperative interaction between northern hemisphere fronts associated with low pressure cyclones and tidally‐modified return branch of the Hadley circulation.