82 research outputs found

    Retrieval of CO2 and N2 in the Martian thermosphere using dayglow observations by IUVS on MAVEN

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    We present direct number density retrievals of carbon dioxide (CO2) and molecular nitrogen (N2) for the upper atmosphere of Mars using limb scan observations during October and November 2014 by the Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph on board NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft. We use retrieved CO2 densities to derive temperature variability between 170 and 220km. Analysis of the data shows (1) low-mid latitude northern hemisphere CO2 densities at 170km vary by a factor of about 2.5, (2) on average, the N2/CO2 increases from 0.042±0.017 at 130km to 0.12±0.06 at 200km, and (3) the mean upper atmospheric temperature is 324±22K for local times near 14:00. © 2015. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved
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