All Physics Faculty Publications

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Geophysical Research Letters

Volume

45

Issue

13

Publisher

AGU

Publication Date

7-4-2018

First Page

6324

Last Page

6333

Abstract

The structure and dynamics of Mars' middle and upper atmosphere is significantly impacted by waves propagating from the lower atmosphere. Using concurrent temperature and neutral density measurements taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN satellites, we demonstrate for the first time that a 2.5‐sol ultra‐fast Kelvin wave is a prominent global‐scale feature of the low‐latitude middle (i.e., 30–80 km) and upper (approximately 150 km) atmosphere of Mars. Further, we present evidence of secondary waves arising from nonlinear interactions between this ultra‐fast Kelvin wave and solar tides, and based on their amplitudes we surmise that they could represent an important source of tidal and longitudinal variability in the aerobraking region.

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