The Atmosphere and Climate of Mars

This volume reviews all aspects of Mars atmospheric science from the surface to space, and from now and into the past.

Robert M. Haberle (Edited by), R. Todd Clancy (Edited by), François Forget (Edited by), Michael D. Smith (Edited by), Richard W. Zurek (Edited by)

9781107016187, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 29 June 2017

588 pages, 298 b/w illus. 29 tables
28.2 x 22.7 x 3.2 cm, 1.91 kg

'It has become clear that understanding the Martian atmosphere will be as complex a challenge as comprehending Earth's. This volume contains chapters exploring the observation history, energy budget, clouds, boundary layer, mesoscale meteorology, global circulation, photochemistry, and ionosphere, as well as the planet's dust, water, and carbon dioxide cycles. Additional chapters examine Mars's fascinating climate history, ranging from planetary formation to the most recent centuries. Most interesting to non-specialists may be the climate history, which suggests Mars once resembled Earth with a thick atmosphere, abundant precipitation and ground water, and possibly an ocean. For this reason, early Mars was presumably friendlier to possible life than the frigid, desiccated surface - with atmospheric pressure less than 1 percent of Earth's - that we see now. … Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate students through faculty.' M. K. Cleaveland, Choice

Humanity has long been fascinated by the planet Mars. Was its climate ever conducive to life? What is the atmosphere like today and why did it change so dramatically over time? Eleven spacecraft have successfully flown to Mars since the Viking mission of the 1970s and early 1980s. These orbiters, landers and rovers have generated vast amounts of data that now span a Martian decade (roughly eighteen years). This new volume brings together the many new ideas about the atmosphere and climate system that have emerged, including the complex interplay of the volatile and dust cycles, the atmosphere-surface interactions that connect them over time, and the diversity of the planet's environment and its complex history. Including tutorials and explanations of complicated ideas, students, researchers and non-specialists alike are able to use this resource to gain a thorough and up-to-date understanding of this most Earth-like of planetary neighbours.

1. Introduction Robert M. Haberle, R. Todd Clancy, François Forget, Michael D. Smith and Richard W. Zurek
2. Understanding Mars and its atmosphere Richard W. Zurek
3. History of Mars atmosphere observations Philip B. James, Philip R. Christensen, R. Todd Clancy, Mark T. Lemmon and Paul Withers
4. Thermal structure and composition Michael D. Smith, Stephen Bougher, Thérèse Encrenaz, François Forget and Armin Kleinböhl
5. Mars clouds R. Todd Clancy, Franck Montmessin, Jennifer Benson, Frank Daerden, Anthony Colaprete and Michael J. Wolff
6. Radiative process: techniques and applications Michael J. Wolff, Miguel Lopéz-Valverde, Jean-Baptiste Madeleine, R. John Wilson, Michael D. Smith, Thierry Fouchet and Gregory T. Delory
7. The Martian planetary boundary layer Peter L. Read, Boris Galperin, Søren E. Larsen, Stephen R. Lewis, Anni Määttänen, Arakel Petrosyan, Nilton Renno, Hannu Savijärvi, Tero Siili, Aymeric Spiga, Anthony Toigo and Luis Vázquez
8. Mesoscale meteorology Scot C. R. Rafkin, Aymeric Spiga and Timothy I. Michaels
9. The global circulation Jeffrey R. Barnes, Robert M. Haberle, R. John Wilson, Stephen R. Lewis, James R. Murphy and Peter L. Read
10. The Mars dust cycle Melinda A. Kahre, James R. Murphy, Claire E. Newman, R. John Wilson, Bruce A. Cantor, Mark T. Lemmon and Michael J. Wolff
11. The water cycle Frank Montmessin, Michael D. Smith, Yves Langevin, Michael T. Mellon and Anna Federova
12. The CO2 cycle Timothy N. Titus, Shane Byrne, Anthony Colaprete, François Forget, Timothy I. Michaels and Thomas H. Prettyman
13. Atmospheric photochemistry Franck Lefèvre and Vladimir Krasnoplosky
14. Upper neutral atmosphere and ionosphere Stephen W. Bougher, David A. Brain, Jane L. Fox, Francisco Gonzalez-Galindo, C. Simon-Welund and Paul Withers
15. Solar wind interaction and atmospheric escape David A. Brain, Sergey Barabash, Stephen W. Bougher, Firat Duru, Bruce M. Jakosky and Ronan Modolo
16. Recent climate variations François Forget, Shane Byrne, James W. Head, Michael A. Mischna and Norbert Schörghofer
17. The early Mars climate system Robert M. Haberle, David C. Catling, Michael H. Carr and Kevin J. Zahnle
18. Future prospects Robert M. Haberle, Todd Clancy, François Forget, Michael D. Smith and Richard W. Zurek
Index.

Subject Areas: Meteorology & climatology [RBP], Solar system: the Sun & planets [PGS]