Annular Modes of Variability in the Atmospheres of Mars and Titan

TL;DR

This study identifies and characterizes annular modes in the atmospheres of Mars and Titan, revealing their significance in planetary variability and potential for weather prediction, thus broadening understanding of planetary atmospheres.

Contribution

First demonstration of annular modes in Mars and Titan atmospheres, showing their role in variability and weather prediction, expanding planetary climate theory.

Findings

Annular modes are prominent in Mars and Titan atmospheres.

These modes explain large fractions of atmospheric variability.

The modes have predictive power for regional dust activity on Mars.

Abstract

Annular modes explain much of the internal variability of Earth's atmosphere but have never been identified on other planets. Using reanalyses for Mars and a simulation for Titan, we demonstrate that annular modes are prominent in the atmospheres of both worlds, explaining large fractions of their respective variabilities. One mode describes latitudinal shifts of the jet on Mars, as on Earth, and vertical shifts of the jet on Titan. Another describes pulses of midlatitude eddy kinetic energy on all three worlds, albeit with somewhat different characteristics. We further demonstrate that this latter mode has predictive power for regional dust activity on Mars, revealing its usefulness for understanding Martian weather. In addition, our finding of similar annular variability in dynamically diverse worlds indicates its ubiquity across planetary atmospheres, opening a new avenue for comparative planetology as well as an additional consideration for characterization of extrasolar atmospheres.