Current Mars Investigations

The weather and climate of Mars are controlled by the coupled seasonal cycles of CO2, dust, and water and their interactions with atmospheric circulations on a range of spatial and temporal scales. These topics are the foci of our group’s current Mars investigations.

Dust: The atmosphere contains dust year-round, but the atmosphere is the dustiest during northern fall and winter.

CO2:  The mass of the atmosphere changes seasonally as CO2, the dominant constituent, condenses and sublimate from the polar regions.

Water:  The water-ice-rich North Polar Residual Cap is exposed during summer, providing a source of water to the atmosphere.

Circulation Systems: Local- to global-scale winds control the movement of heat, momentum, trace gases, and aerosols through the atmosphere.