Out-of-season water escape during Mars' northern summer triggered by a strong localized dust storm
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Mars almost certainly had a considerable amount of water in its past. Recent observations reveal that during southern summer, when the atmosphere is warmer and dustier, water vapor can reach high altitudes without condensing, leading to water loss to space. Here, by combining infrared, visible, and ultraviolet data from multiple Mars orbiters, we identify a new pathway for water loss, observed for the first time to our knowledge during the opposite season. Our findings show that a strong, localized, and short-lived dust storm in Martian Year 37 (August 2023) drove considerable vertical transport of water vapor in the northern summer season. Just days after the storm, enhanced water vapor concentrations were observed at altitudes over 40 km across northern high latitudes, followed by an increase in escaping hydrogen detected at the exobase. These results suggest that water loss on Mars can be triggered by strong local dust storms at any time of year. Observations compiled from several Mars observation missions suggest a significant but short-lived dust storm during the Northern hemisphere summer of Mars Year 37 drove substantial vertical transport of water vapor into the upper atmosphere.
Authors: Adrián Brines, Shohei Aoki, Frank Daerden, Michael S. Chaffin, Samuel A. Atwood, Susarla Raghuram, Bruce A. Cantor, Yannick Willame, Loïc Trompet, Geronimo L. Villanueva, Michael J. Wolff, Michael D. Smith, Christopher S. Edwards, Ian R. Thomas, Giuliano Liuzzi, Lori Neary, Manish R. Patel, Miguel Angel López-Valverde, Armin Kleinböhl, Hoor AlMazmi, James Whiteway, AnnCarine Vandaele, Bojan Ristic, Giancarlo Bellucci
Institutions: Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, The University of Tokyo, Tohoku University, Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy, University of Colorado Boulder, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, Goddard Space Flight Center, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Malin Space Science Systems (United States), Space Science Institute, Northern Arizona University, University of Basilicata, The Open University, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, UAE Space Agency, York University, Institute for Space Astrophysics and Planetology
Language: English
Subfield: Space and Planetary Science
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Climate action
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,490
Funders: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, California Institute of Technology, Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, European Space Agency, European Commission, Fonds De La Recherche Scientifique - FNRS, Belgian Federal Science Policy Office, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Goddard Space Flight Center, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Agencia Estatal de Investigación
Awards: G1171257612, G1274262131, New isotope obervations of Mars atmsopheric evolution: International collaboration of European and Japanese Mars exploration missions, G1381791653, G1773867472, G1855990336, G1863948513, G2009272473, ROle and impAct of Dust and clouds in the Martian Atmosphere: from lab to space, G2262748287, Evolution of carbon and nitrogen and generation of prebiotic molecules in the Martian atmosphere, G2548895409, G2676722403, G3398851854, G3469697278, G3480869486, G3518538256, G3648211085, G3681454997, G3696727022, G373897614, G3782671888, G4042783231, G425668148, G429500863, 探査機・望遠鏡観測による火星の鉛直水輸送過程解明, G463062595, G490073602, G5033165692, Water transport through clouds: development of non-equilibrium planetary cloud physics, G5421974903, G5635532810, G5881647929, G5894067328, G6561015458, G6643264051, G6728930308, 古代説話における諸寺縁起の研究, G7863371703, G8129938366, G8181105605, G8195670965, G830101876, G8497050386, G8920660035
OpenAlex ID: W7127088330