Transient teleconnection event at the onset of a planet-encircling dust storm on Mars

We use proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) to study a transient teleconnection event at the onset of the 2001 planet-encircling dust storm on Mars, in terms of empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs). There are several differences between this and previous studies of atmospheric events using EO...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: O. Martínez-Alvarado, L. Montabone, S. R. Lewis, I. M. Moroz, P. L. Read
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Copernicus Publications 2009-09-01
Series:Annales Geophysicae
Online Access:https://www.ann-geophys.net/27/3663/2009/angeo-27-3663-2009.pdf
id doaj-4e9a56fd99994bab8bbbfd904c225742
record_format Article
spelling doaj-4e9a56fd99994bab8bbbfd904c2257422020-11-24T22:58:43ZengCopernicus PublicationsAnnales Geophysicae0992-76891432-05762009-09-01273663367610.5194/angeo-27-3663-2009Transient teleconnection event at the onset of a planet-encircling dust storm on MarsO. Martínez-Alvarado0L. Montabone1S. R. Lewis2I. M. Moroz3P. L. Read4Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, UKDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, The Open University, UKDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, The Open University, UKMathematical Institute, University of Oxford, UKDepartment of Physics, University of Oxford, UKWe use proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) to study a transient teleconnection event at the onset of the 2001 planet-encircling dust storm on Mars, in terms of empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs). There are several differences between this and previous studies of atmospheric events using EOFs. First, instead of using a single variable such as surface pressure or geopotential height on a given pressure surface, we use a dataset describing the evolution in time of global and fully three-dimensional atmospheric fields such as horizontal velocity and temperature. These fields are produced by assimilating Thermal Emission Spectrometer observations from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft into a Mars general circulation model. We use total atmospheric energy (TE) as a physically meaningful quantity which weights the state variables. Second, instead of adopting the EOFs to define teleconnection patterns as planetary-scale correlations that explain a large portion of long time-scale variability, we use EOFs to understand transient processes due to localised heating perturbations that have implications for the atmospheric circulation over distant regions. The localised perturbation is given by anomalous heating due to the enhanced presence of dust around the northern edge of the Hellas Planitia basin on Mars. We show that the localised disturbance is seemingly restricted to a small number (a few tens) of EOFs. These can be classified as low-order, transitional, or high-order EOFs according to the TE amount they explain throughout the event. Despite the global character of the EOFs, they show the capability of accounting for the localised effects of the perturbation via the presence of specific centres of action. We finally discuss possible applications for the study of terrestrial phenomena with similar characteristics.https://www.ann-geophys.net/27/3663/2009/angeo-27-3663-2009.pdf
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author O. Martínez-Alvarado
L. Montabone
S. R. Lewis
I. M. Moroz
P. L. Read
spellingShingle O. Martínez-Alvarado
L. Montabone
S. R. Lewis
I. M. Moroz
P. L. Read
Transient teleconnection event at the onset of a planet-encircling dust storm on Mars
Annales Geophysicae
author_facet O. Martínez-Alvarado
L. Montabone
S. R. Lewis
I. M. Moroz
P. L. Read
author_sort O. Martínez-Alvarado
title Transient teleconnection event at the onset of a planet-encircling dust storm on Mars
title_short Transient teleconnection event at the onset of a planet-encircling dust storm on Mars
title_full Transient teleconnection event at the onset of a planet-encircling dust storm on Mars
title_fullStr Transient teleconnection event at the onset of a planet-encircling dust storm on Mars
title_full_unstemmed Transient teleconnection event at the onset of a planet-encircling dust storm on Mars
title_sort transient teleconnection event at the onset of a planet-encircling dust storm on mars
publisher Copernicus Publications
series Annales Geophysicae
issn 0992-7689
1432-0576
publishDate 2009-09-01
description We use proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) to study a transient teleconnection event at the onset of the 2001 planet-encircling dust storm on Mars, in terms of empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs). There are several differences between this and previous studies of atmospheric events using EOFs. First, instead of using a single variable such as surface pressure or geopotential height on a given pressure surface, we use a dataset describing the evolution in time of global and fully three-dimensional atmospheric fields such as horizontal velocity and temperature. These fields are produced by assimilating Thermal Emission Spectrometer observations from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft into a Mars general circulation model. We use total atmospheric energy (TE) as a physically meaningful quantity which weights the state variables. Second, instead of adopting the EOFs to define teleconnection patterns as planetary-scale correlations that explain a large portion of long time-scale variability, we use EOFs to understand transient processes due to localised heating perturbations that have implications for the atmospheric circulation over distant regions. The localised perturbation is given by anomalous heating due to the enhanced presence of dust around the northern edge of the Hellas Planitia basin on Mars. We show that the localised disturbance is seemingly restricted to a small number (a few tens) of EOFs. These can be classified as low-order, transitional, or high-order EOFs according to the TE amount they explain throughout the event. Despite the global character of the EOFs, they show the capability of accounting for the localised effects of the perturbation via the presence of specific centres of action. We finally discuss possible applications for the study of terrestrial phenomena with similar characteristics.
url https://www.ann-geophys.net/27/3663/2009/angeo-27-3663-2009.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT omartinezalvarado transientteleconnectioneventattheonsetofaplanetencirclingduststormonmars
AT lmontabone transientteleconnectioneventattheonsetofaplanetencirclingduststormonmars
AT srlewis transientteleconnectioneventattheonsetofaplanetencirclingduststormonmars
AT immoroz transientteleconnectioneventattheonsetofaplanetencirclingduststormonmars
AT plread transientteleconnectioneventattheonsetofaplanetencirclingduststormonmars
_version_ 1725646653165142016