Why study weather and climate on Mars?
The study of Martian climate and weather is scientifically desirable for comparison with the Earth and the other planets. We seek to understand what the similarities and differences can tell us about the Earth’s climate and the physics of any planet’s atmosphere. The Earth’s climate, of course, is inextricably linked to the evolution and survival of life; the same applies to Mars if it has/had life. The climate of a planet is determined by planetary “constants,” which, in turn, derive from a planet’s formation and subsequent evolution. Mars is remarkably similar to the Earth in its rotation rate and axial tilt (see picture above) so both daily and seasonal changes of the Martian atmosphere are fortuitously like the Earth’s. Furthermore, both planetary atmospheres are nearly transparent to sunlight so that they are primarily heated by infrared radiation emanating from the surface below. Consequently, many of the principal parameters governing the size of the forces and the nature of the
