Observations of the Thermal Structure and Dynamics of the Martian Atmosphere

Information on the thermal structure of the Martian atmosphere has been obtained using several different techniques, including in situ sounding from decent probes, radio occultations and infrared thermal emission measurements from orbiters, and earth based full-disk microwave measurements. Knowledge of the 3- dimensional atmospheric temperature field and its temporal variation provides an important observational approach to the study of the dynamics of the atmosphere. Comparison of the observed thermal structure with results from a Mars General Circulation Model (MGCM) can be used to refine the model and provide greater insight into the physical processes controlling the dynamics of the atmosphere. Direct assimilation of the temperature observations into an MGCM can also be used to address similar goals. In addition, relatively simple diagnostic models can be applied to the data to directly obtain information on winds and other meteorological properties of the atmosphere. In this overview, we concentrate primarily on the structure retrieved from thermal emission measurements. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.