Meteorological Changes Across Curiosity Rover’s Traverse Using REMS Measurements and Comparisons Between Measurements and MRAMS Model Results

The Curiosity rover, from NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), has climbed nearly 740 m from its landing location at −4500.971 m in Gale Crater to a location reached on sol 3967 on the slopes of Mt. Sharp at −3765.27 m. We examine the atmospheric pressure, surface and atmospheric temperatures, rela...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: María Ruíz, Eduardo Sebastián-Martínez, Jose Antonio Rodríguez-Manfredi, Jorge Pla-García, Manuel de la Torre-Juarez, Scot C. R. Rafkin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-01-01
Series:Remote Sensing
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/3/368
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850068463192637440
author María Ruíz
Eduardo Sebastián-Martínez
Jose Antonio Rodríguez-Manfredi
Jorge Pla-García
Manuel de la Torre-Juarez
Scot C. R. Rafkin
author_facet María Ruíz
Eduardo Sebastián-Martínez
Jose Antonio Rodríguez-Manfredi
Jorge Pla-García
Manuel de la Torre-Juarez
Scot C. R. Rafkin
author_sort María Ruíz
collection DOAJ
description The Curiosity rover, from NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), has climbed nearly 740 m from its landing location at −4500.971 m in Gale Crater to a location reached on sol 3967 on the slopes of Mt. Sharp at −3765.27 m. We examine the atmospheric pressure, surface and atmospheric temperatures, relative humidity, and water vapor volume mixing ratios from measurements made by the Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS), taken along the trajectory traveled over 3967 sols spanning from late MY31 to mid-MY37, on an interannual scale. The results help us understand the Martian meteorology inside Gale Crater. The atmospheric pressure and temperature changes caused by the elevation variation of the rover show the impact of the altitude change on the atmospheric dynamics. Regarding the rover’s locations for MY32 and MY36, a detailed comparative analysis of the full diurnal cycle is performed for the solstices and equinoxes. These scenarios are examined using the REMS and the Mars Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (MRAMS) data. We compare the REMS and MRAMS data to evaluate their concordance. We present, for the first time, a hypothesis for the existence of the cold pool phenomenon, which also occurs on Earth, based on REMS data.
format Article
id doaj-art-23276ef14a04425698349fef3377174a
institution DOAJ
issn 2072-4292
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Remote Sensing
spelling doaj-art-23276ef14a04425698349fef3377174a2025-08-20T02:48:03ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922025-01-0117336810.3390/rs17030368Meteorological Changes Across Curiosity Rover’s Traverse Using REMS Measurements and Comparisons Between Measurements and MRAMS Model ResultsMaría Ruíz0Eduardo Sebastián-Martínez1Jose Antonio Rodríguez-Manfredi2Jorge Pla-García3Manuel de la Torre-Juarez4Scot C. R. Rafkin5Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), INTA-CSIC, 28850 Madrid, SpainCentro de Astrobiología (CAB), INTA-CSIC, 28850 Madrid, SpainCentro de Astrobiología (CAB), INTA-CSIC, 28850 Madrid, SpainCentro de Astrobiología (CAB), INTA-CSIC, 28850 Madrid, SpainJet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USASouthwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USAThe Curiosity rover, from NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), has climbed nearly 740 m from its landing location at −4500.971 m in Gale Crater to a location reached on sol 3967 on the slopes of Mt. Sharp at −3765.27 m. We examine the atmospheric pressure, surface and atmospheric temperatures, relative humidity, and water vapor volume mixing ratios from measurements made by the Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS), taken along the trajectory traveled over 3967 sols spanning from late MY31 to mid-MY37, on an interannual scale. The results help us understand the Martian meteorology inside Gale Crater. The atmospheric pressure and temperature changes caused by the elevation variation of the rover show the impact of the altitude change on the atmospheric dynamics. Regarding the rover’s locations for MY32 and MY36, a detailed comparative analysis of the full diurnal cycle is performed for the solstices and equinoxes. These scenarios are examined using the REMS and the Mars Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (MRAMS) data. We compare the REMS and MRAMS data to evaluate their concordance. We present, for the first time, a hypothesis for the existence of the cold pool phenomenon, which also occurs on Earth, based on REMS data.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/3/368Marsmeteorologyatmosphere
spellingShingle María Ruíz
Eduardo Sebastián-Martínez
Jose Antonio Rodríguez-Manfredi
Jorge Pla-García
Manuel de la Torre-Juarez
Scot C. R. Rafkin
Meteorological Changes Across Curiosity Rover’s Traverse Using REMS Measurements and Comparisons Between Measurements and MRAMS Model Results
Remote Sensing
Mars
meteorology
atmosphere
title Meteorological Changes Across Curiosity Rover’s Traverse Using REMS Measurements and Comparisons Between Measurements and MRAMS Model Results
title_full Meteorological Changes Across Curiosity Rover’s Traverse Using REMS Measurements and Comparisons Between Measurements and MRAMS Model Results
title_fullStr Meteorological Changes Across Curiosity Rover’s Traverse Using REMS Measurements and Comparisons Between Measurements and MRAMS Model Results
title_full_unstemmed Meteorological Changes Across Curiosity Rover’s Traverse Using REMS Measurements and Comparisons Between Measurements and MRAMS Model Results
title_short Meteorological Changes Across Curiosity Rover’s Traverse Using REMS Measurements and Comparisons Between Measurements and MRAMS Model Results
title_sort meteorological changes across curiosity rover s traverse using rems measurements and comparisons between measurements and mrams model results
topic Mars
meteorology
atmosphere
url https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/3/368
work_keys_str_mv AT mariaruiz meteorologicalchangesacrosscuriosityroverstraverseusingremsmeasurementsandcomparisonsbetweenmeasurementsandmramsmodelresults
AT eduardosebastianmartinez meteorologicalchangesacrosscuriosityroverstraverseusingremsmeasurementsandcomparisonsbetweenmeasurementsandmramsmodelresults
AT joseantoniorodriguezmanfredi meteorologicalchangesacrosscuriosityroverstraverseusingremsmeasurementsandcomparisonsbetweenmeasurementsandmramsmodelresults
AT jorgeplagarcia meteorologicalchangesacrosscuriosityroverstraverseusingremsmeasurementsandcomparisonsbetweenmeasurementsandmramsmodelresults
AT manueldelatorrejuarez meteorologicalchangesacrosscuriosityroverstraverseusingremsmeasurementsandcomparisonsbetweenmeasurementsandmramsmodelresults
AT scotcrrafkin meteorologicalchangesacrosscuriosityroverstraverseusingremsmeasurementsandcomparisonsbetweenmeasurementsandmramsmodelresults