Inferring the Speed of Sound and Wind in the Nighttime Martian Boundary Layer From Impact‐Generated Infrasound
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: The properties of the first kilometers of the Martian atmospheric Planetary Boundary Layer have until now been measured by only a few instruments and probes. InSight offers an opportunity to investigate this region through seismoacoustics. On six occasions, its seismometers recorded short low‐frequency waveforms, with clear dispersion between 0.4 and 4 Hz. These signals are the air‐to‐ground coupling of impact‐generated infrasound, which propagated in an low‐altitude atmospheric waveguide. Their group velocity depends on the structure of effective sound speed in the boundary layer. Here, we conduct a Bayesian inversion of effective sound speed up to 2,000 m altitude using the group velocity measured for events S0981c, S0986c and S1034a. The inverted effective sound speed profiles are in good agreement with estimates provided by the Mars Climate Database. Differences between inverted and modeled profiles can be attributed to a local wind variation in the impact→station direction, of amplitude smaller than 2 m/s.
Source: Geophysical Research Letters
DOI: 10.1029/2024gl109726
Authors: Marouchka Froment, Zongbo Xu, Philippe H. Lognonné, Carène Larmat, Raphael F. Garcia, Mélanie Drilleau, Brent G. Delbridge, Aymeric Spiga, Taichi Kawamura, Éric Beucler
Institutions: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Institut de physique du globe de Paris, Université Paris Cité, Norsar, Institut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace (ISAE-SUPAERO), Université de Toulouse, Sorbonne Université, Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique, Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace, Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, Université Nantes Angers Le Mans, Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géosciences, Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers Nantes Atlantique, Nantes Université
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,900
OpenAlex ID: W4402406011