Speaker
Description
The radiant energy budget is a fundamental geophysical quantity of great scientific interest for planets and moons. However, detailed studies on the temporal variations of the radiant energy budget for planetary bodies other than Earth are relatively limited. Using thermal and visible measurements obtained from the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, we provide the first study on the meridional distribution of Mars’ radiant energy budget at seasonal timescales. Our results reveal the dramatic extent of asymmetry in the meridional profiles of Mars’ radiant energy budget across seasons, which plays a critical role in the development of large-scale circulation and dust storms on the red planet. This comparative study of radiant energy budget between Mars and Earth reveals marked spatiotemporal dissimilarities. For the annual average radiant energy budget: Mars shows an energy deficit in the tropical region and an energy excess in the middle and high latitudes of both hemispheres. Earth has the opposite configuration (i.e., an energy excess in the tropics and an energy deficit in middle and high latitudes). The differences in the structure of the radiant energy budget between Mars and Earth have important implications on the general atmospheric circulation and climate of both Earth and Mars.
| Academic year | 3rd year |
|---|---|
| Research Advisor | Liming Li |
