Atmospheric Disturbances and Radiation Impulses Caused by Large-Meteoroid Impacts on the Surface of Mars. II. Radiation Impulse Characteristics and Parameters of the Warm Layer

Abstract

This paper presents the results of the calculation of spectral and angular characteristics of radiation emitted by the disturbed region after the vertical impacts on the Martian surface of stony meteoroids with radii R0 from 1 to 100 m at speeds of 11–20 km/s. The time dependences are given for the density of the radiation flux incident on horizontal surface areas located at different distances from the impact point. For small impactors (R0= 1 m), the heating of the surface and surrounding gas by the radiation impulse from the hot region formed after the impact is insignificant even at the crater edge. However, the radiation impulse that heats up the surface is also emitted during the meteoroid flight through the atmosphere. Although this heating is insufficient to initiate evaporation, heat transfer by turbulent diffusion leads to the formation of a layer with temperatures that substantially exceed the initial temperature of the atmosphere. For large impactors (R0 = 100 m), the total specific impulse of the plume radiation gives rise to the emergence of the heated layer with a thickness on the order of several meters within several kilometers of the impact point. The formation of this “warm” layer may lead to the formation of a high-speed jet moving along the Martian surface as well as eddies at the front of the precursor with a subsequent intense rise of dust.