Mapping of Ozone and Water in the Atmosphere of Mars near the 1997 Aphelion

Abstract

We present absolute abundances and latitudinal variations of ozone and water in the atmosphere of Mars during its late northern spring ( L s=67.3°) shortly before aphelion. Long-slit maps of the a 1Δ g state of molecular oxygen (O 2) and HDO, an isotopic form of water, were acquired on UT January 21.6 1997 using a high-resolution infrared spectrometer (CSHELL) at the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility. O 2(a 1Δ g) is produced by ozone photolysis, and the ensuing dayglow emission at 1.27 μm is used as a tracer for ozone. Retrieved vertical column densities for ozone above ∼20 km ranged between 1.5 and 2.8 μm-atm at mid- to low latitudes (30°S–60°N) and decreased outside that region. A significant decrease in ozone density is seen near 30°N (close to the subsolar latitude of 23.5°N). The rotational temperatures retrieved from O 2(a–X) emissions show a mean of 172±2.5 K, confirming that the sensed ozone lies in the middle atmosphere (∼24 km). The ν 1 fundamental band of HDO near 3.67 μm was used as a proxy for H 2O. The retrieved vertical column abundance of water varies from 3 precipitable microns (pr-μm) at ∼30°S to 24 pr-μm at ∼60°N. We compare these results with current photochemical models and with measurements obtained by other methods.