Model Development

Radiation Code

We continue to improve the radiation code developed here at NASA ARC. We plan to redefine the wavelength bands to address a variety of current and past climate issues. Bands will be redefined to better account for the radiative effects of water ice clouds and account for the radiative effects of gaseous SO2 for Early Mars investigations. In collaboration with Francois Forget of LMD, pressure induced broadening of CO2 absorption lines will be included. Additionally, Jim Murphy and his students at New Mexico State University are including the effects of non-LTE in the upper atmosphere based on the work of Lopez-Valverde (1998). This work is part of an effort to increase the model’s vertical extent in preparation for the Mars Scout mission MAVEN.

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References

» Lopez-Valverde, M.A., D.P. Edwards, M. Lopez-Puertas, and C. Roldan, 1998: Non-local thermodynamic equilibrium in general circulation models of the Martian atmosphere I: Effects of the local thermodynamic equilibrium approximation on thermal cooling and solar heating. J. Geophys. Res., 103, 16799–16811.

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