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The Penetration of Solar Radiation Into Water and Carbon Dioxide Snow, With Reference to Mars
Author(s) -
Chinnery H. E.,
Hagermann A.,
Kaufmann E.,
Lewis S. R.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: planets
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-9100
pISSN - 2169-9097
DOI - 10.1029/2018je005771
Subject(s) - regolith , snow , albedo (alchemy) , mars exploration program , atmospheric sciences , environmental science , carbon dioxide , astrobiology , martian surface , atmosphere of mars , atmosphere (unit) , martian , geology , meteorology , chemistry , geomorphology , physics , organic chemistry , art , performance art , art history
The depth to which solar radiation can penetrate through ice is an important factor in understanding surface‐atmosphere interactions for icy planetary surfaces. Mars hosts both water and carbon dioxide ice on the surface and in the subsurface. At high latitudes during autumn and winter carbon dioxide condenses to form the seasonal polar cap. This has been both modeled and observed to, in part, occur as snowfall. As snow accumulates, the thermal properties of the surface are changed, whether the underlying surface was rocky, regolith, or a solid ice sheet. This results in a change (usually increase) in albedo, affecting the proportion of the incident solar energy reflected, or transmitted below the surface of the snow layer. The depth to which light can penetrate through this layer is an important parameter in heat transfer models for the Martian surface and is often quantified using the e ‐folding scale. We present the first measurements of the e ‐folding scale in pure carbon dioxide snow for the wavelengths 300 to 1100 nm alongside new measurements of water snow.