Observations of ozone, a trace gas on Mars, have the potential to constrain atmospheric dynamical and physical processes. Current Mars Global Circulation Models (MGCMs) are able to represent the photochemistry occuring in the atmosphere, with comparisons to observations used to confine particular species. However, a long term comparison using data assimilation provides a more robust constraint on the model. We have assimilated total-ozone observations from SPICAM into an MGCM to study the Martian ozone cycle. Ozone has never before been assimilated for an extraterrestrial planet. Our aim is to use ozone to provide a preliminary technique for trace gas data assimilation for the analysis of observations from current and future satellite missions (such as ExoMars) which observe the spatial and temporal distribution of trace gases on Mars
