The Astrophysical Journal, 539:L143L146, 2000 August 20

q 2000. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A.

SUBMILLIMETER WAVE ASTRONOMY SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS OF THE MARTIAN ATMOSPHERE:

TEMPERATURE AND VERTICAL DISTRIBUTION OF WATER VAPOR
M. A. Gurwell,1 E. A. Bergin,1 G. J. Melnick,1 M. L. N. Ashby,1 G. Chin,2 N. R. Erickson,3 P. F. Goldsmith,4
M. Harwit,5 J. E. Howe,3 S. C. Kleiner,1 D. G. Koch,6 D. A. Neufeld,7 B. M. Patten,1 R. Plume,1 R. Schieder,8
R. L. Snell,3 J. R. Stauffer,1 V. Tolls,1 Z. Wang,1 G. Winnewisser,8 and Y. F. Zhang1
Received 1999 December 10; accepted 2000 June 23; published 2000 August 16

ABSTRACT
We report the first detections of absorption features in the submillimeter spectrum of Mars that are due to the
H2O (110101) and 13CO (54) rotational transitions. Observations were obtained over several days near the planets
closest approach to Earth in 1999 April. These observations simultaneously provide us with an opportunity to
derive the atmospheric temperature structure and to measure directly the distribution of water vapor with altitude.
The Martian atmosphere is found to be relatively cool, consistent with results found from ground-based millimeter
observations of CO. The distribution of water in the Martian atmosphere matches a profile of constant, 100%
saturation from 10 to 45 km altitude.
Subject headings: planets and satellites: individual (Mars) radio lines: solar system submillimeter

1. INTRODUCTION to measure atmospheric water vapor absorption in the far-IR

Understanding the role of water vapor in the atmosphere of
Mars has received increasing emphasis during the last few
years, stemming from a desire to know more about the past
history of water as well as the direct dependence of atmospheric
photochemistry on the water vapor abundance (e.g., Nair et al.
1994; Clancy & Nair 1996). The vertical distribution of water
is governed by the atmospheric temperature structure, in which
cold temperatures produce saturation conditions and can limit
the abundance of water above 10 km. Our growing understand-
ing of the complexity of the Martian annual and interannual
variations in the temperature structure has been driven primarily
by continued ground-based millimeter-wave spectroscopy (e.g.,
Clancy, Muhleman, & Berge 1990) and new spacecraft obser-
vations by the Mars Global Surveyor (e.g., Conrath et al. 1998).
The annual variations in water abundance and temperature may
be the key to understanding many important facets of the cli-
mate of Mars (Clancy et al. 1996).
The first detection of water vapor (Spinrad, Munch, & Kap-
lan 1963) employed near-IR reflectance spectroscopy near
0.82 mm, and this spectral region has been widely used since
then (e.g., Barker 1976, 1998; Sprague et al. 1999). The largest
set of observations of water in the Martian atmosphere comes
from the Mars Atmospheric Water Detectors, flown on both
Viking orbiter spacecraft (Farmer et al. 1977). These instru-
ments mapped the column abundance of water using 1.38 mm
reflectance spectroscopy, studying spatial and seasonal varia-
tions. In 1988, Phobos 2 measured water vapor using the in-
frared imaging spectrometer ISM (Rosenqvist et al. 1992).
More recently, the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) was used
1
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cam-
bridge, MA 02138.
2
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771.
3
Department of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
01003.
4
National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center, Department of Astronomy,
Cornell University, Space Sciences Building, Ithaca, NY 14853-6801.
5
from Mars (Encrenaz et al. 1999; Burgdorf et al. 1999).
While these techniques are sensitive to the column abun-
dance of water, none are capable of measuring the vertical
distribution, which is key to understanding the chemistry of
the middle atmosphere. The water vapor profile can be mea-
sured through spectrally resolved observations of pressure-
broadened lines, most easily done at radio through submilli-
meter wavelengths. The vertical distribution of water vapor has
been measured from the ground using interferometric obser-
vations of the 22 GHz transition (Clancy, Grossman, & Muhl-
eman 1992), a difficult detection of the strong 183 GHz tran-
sition (Encrenaz et al. 1995), and through inference from
detection of the 226 GHz transition of HDO (Encrenaz et al.
1991; Clancy et al. 1996; Gurwell & Muhleman 1997). How-
ever, the large amount of water in the Earths atmosphere makes
direct detections of water impossible in most cases, and the
broad weak emission features of HDO on Mars are difficult to
measure accurately.
In this Letter, we present an analysis of recent observations
obtained with the Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite
(SWAS; see Melnick et al. 2000 for a description of the in-
strument and mission) of both water and an isotope of carbon
monoxide from Mars. These observations provide the oppor-
tunity to measure simultaneously both the vertical temperature
structure and the distribution of water vapor in the atmosphere.
2. OBSERVATIONS
Observations of Mars were performed with SWAS from 1999
April 17 to May 3, when Mars was near opposition and at its
largest extent (with an angular diameter ranging from 150. 6 to
160. 2, compared with the SWAS beam of 39. 3 # 49. 5 FWHM).
The areocentric longitude of the Sun LS was 130, correspond-
ing to Martian midnorthern summer. Spectra were collected
during SWAS orbit segments of about 30 minutes; the full data
set consists of more than 160 orbit segments over the observing

6
511 H Street SW, Washington, DC 20024-2725; also Cornell University. period. Spectra were taken of the H2O (110101) and 13CO (54)
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035. rotational transitions in the upper and lower sidebands of a
7
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, 3400
North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218.
receiver tuned near 554 GHz (see Melnick et al. 2000). The
8
I. Physikalisches Institut, Universitat zu Koln, Zulpicher Strasse 77, receiver provides nearly equal sensitivity in the two sidebands.
D-50937 Koln, Germany. A second receiver measured the surface continuum flux near
L143
L144 SWAS OBSERVATIONS OF MARS
Fig. 1.Co-added submillimeter double-sideband spectra of Mars obtained
by SWAS. (a) Velocity corrected for the H2 O (110101) line at 556.936 GHz in
the USB; (b) velocity corrected for the 13 CO (54) line at 550.296 GHz in the
LSB. The core of each line appears smeared when the velocity is corrected
for the opposite line because of the large change in the line-of-sight velocity
during an orbit-observing segment of SWAS.
490 GHz. After correction for the changing velocity and ap-
parent size of Mars relative to the spacecraft, the segment spec-
tra were co-added, yielding a total on-source integration time
in each band of 1791 minutes. The spectral resolution was
approximately 1.03 MHz.
The resulting spectra from the 554 GHz receiver, with ve-
locity corrections for the upper sideband (USB; H2 O line) and
the lower sideband (LSB; 13CO line), are shown in Figure 1.
Both lines are clearly detected, but the broad width of the water
line (due to the pressure broadening of this extremely optically
thick transition) exceeds the spectrometer bandwidth, forcing
the 13CO (54) line to lie superposed on the wing of the H2O
line. We therefore do not have a direct measurement of the
continuum level at this frequency.
3. DATA REDUCTION
In order to analyze the H2O/13CO spectrum, we place the
observations onto a line-to-continuum (LTC) scale. Since the
water line exceeds the bandpass, we have no direct SWAS mea-
sure of the continuum at this wavelength. We therefore ex-
trapolate the continuum measurement obtained at 490 GHz to
554 GHz in the following manner.
First, we determine a good estimate of the emission of Mars
in the submillimeter. A model of the thermal emission char-
Vol. 539
Fig. 2.Mars 13CO (54) spectrum converted to a single-sideband LTC
ratio spectrum (histogram). The model spectra calculated by assuming the four
atmospheric temperature profiles shown in Fig. 4 are overlaid. The fractional
number abundance of CO for this model is 9 # 1024 (corrected for seasonal
pressure), and the 12CO/13CO ratio is 89.
acteristics of the surface and subsurface of Mars at centimeter
wavelengths (Rudy et al. 1987) has been used effectively to
calibrate observations at millimeter wavelengths (Clancy et al.
1996; Gurwell & Muhleman 1997). For this work, we have
extended the model into the submillimeter to calculate the
brightness temperature of Mars for the observing time and
geometry. The model results in a disk-average Planck bright-
ness temperature in the 450600 GHz range of 225 5 7 K
(with an average physical surface temperature and emissivity
of 245 K and 0.915, respectively). This emissivity is consistent
with ISO measurements at shorter wavelengths (50180 mm;
Burgdorf et al. 1999) as well as radio observations at longer
wavelengths (26 cm; Rudy et al. 1987). We calculate the
intensity for 225 K Planck blackbody emission at 554 GHz to
be 1.27 times that at 490 GHz. Next, we assume that the relative
efficiency of the instrument between 487 and 554 GHz is gov-
erned primarily by the surface accuracy of the primary mirror.
Using the standard Ruze equation and taking 16 5 6 mm for
the surface rms (in agreement with Melnick et al. 2000), we
find the efficiency of the instrument at 554 GHz relative to
490 GHz to be 97% 5 2%. Observations of the Moon obtained
by SWAS show that the relative efficiency of the receivers is
unity to within about 10%, so our estimate of the relative
efficiency is consistent with this measurement. Using these two
results and the measured continuum at 490 GHz gives a double-
sideband continuum level at 554 GHz of 1.22 5 0.06 K in
antenna temperature.
The 13CO line is relatively narrow, while the H2O line is
broad. We separate the two spectral features by fitting for and
subtracting the broad wings of the water line in the opposite
sideband from the 13CO spectrum (Fig. 1b) and then adding
our estimated continuum level (0.61 5 0.05 K single side-
band). The resulting spectrum after conversion to the LTC ratio
is presented in Figure 2. For the water spectrum (Fig. 1a), we
first subtract the continuum level that is due to surface emission
in the opposite sideband (near the 13 CO line), and then we fit
for and subtract a series of narrow Gaussian profiles over a
restricted frequency range to the smeared 13 CO absorption fea-
tures. The resulting spectrum after conversion to the LTC ratio
is presented in Figure 3. Note that due to the uncertainty in
the continuum level, this LTC ratio spectrum of the water line
No. 2, 2000 GURWELL ET AL.
Fig. 3.Mars H2O (110101) spectrum converted to a single-sideband LTC
ratio spectrum (histogram). The model spectra calculated by assuming the four
water vapor profiles shown in Fig. 4 are overlaid. This water line is much
broader than the spectrometer bandwidth, which prevents us from getting an
accurate retrieval of the water abundance below 8 km.
has an overall error beyond the channel-to-channel noise; e.g.,
the whole spectrum has an estimated uncertainty of 3%6%
relative to the numerical values on the ordinate of Figure 3.
This effect is much less important for the 13CO line.9
4. ANALYSIS
The observed line shape from a planetary atmosphere is a
complex function of the vertical profiles of temperature and
the absorber abundance. This information is encoded in the
line shape through pressure broadening and therefore can be
retrieved within certain bounds through a suitable numerical
inversion or through a radiative transfer model comparison.
4.1. Temperature
On 1999 April 24, observations of CO (21) and (10) were
obtained by R. T. Clancy at the NRAO 12 m radio telescope
on Kitt Peak (KP), Arizona. These observations were used to
construct a global mean temperature profile of the atmosphere
(Fig. 4). These observations occurred near the middle of the
SWAS observation time frame.
We performed radiative transfer modeling of the 13CO (54)
transition using this temperature profile, profiles with 510 K
added, and a canonical temperature profile from the Viking era.
Other important atmospheric parameters were taken from
Viking spacecraft and ground-based measurements (Psurf p
5.9 mbar for this season, fCO p 9 # 1024 after correction for
seasonal pressure change, and 12CO/13 CO p 89; see Owen
1992). At the line center, these models calculate zenith and
limb opacities of 2.4 and 25, respectively. The disk average
contribution function in the line center peaks near 45 km.
Therefore, this line is sensitive to the atmospheric temperature
profile from the surface to about 45 km.
The resulting model spectra, convolved to the instrumental
9
More specifically, this error in the LTC ratio spectrum is a function of the
LTC value. For a continuum value C with error jC, the 13CO spectrum error
is (1 2 LTC)CjC, but the H2O spectrum error is (1 1 LTC)CjC. The difference
arises from the different ways that the spectra were converted to LTC ratio
spectrum and is allowed since we can define, in a relative sense, the continuum
level for the narrow 13CO line.
L145
Fig. 4.Radiative transfer model atmospheric profiles of temperature and
water vapor fractional abundance. For temperature, the thick solid line labeled
T(z)KP represents a best fit to the millimeter spectra obtained on 1999 April
24 by R. T. Clancy (2000, private communication) and is verified to be a good
fit to the observed 13CO spectrum. The thin solid lines represent offset profiles
of 510 K, and the dashed line is a canonical temperature profile from the
Viking era. For water vapor, the thick solid line represents a profile with
200 ppm in the lower atmosphere and following 100% RH above the saturation
altitude.
resolution, are overlaid on the reduced SWAS spectrum in Fig-
ure 2. The profile determined from the KP observations is
consistent with the SWAS observations, producing both the
width and the depth of the line shape; the spectra obtained by
offsets of 10 K in temperature provide significantly worse fits,
and the Viking profile is slightly less satisfactory than the 110
K model. A simple least-squares analysis of these models shows
that the KP-measured temperature profile is a very good fit to
the data. This atmospheric temperature profile is significantly
cooler than profiles measured during the Viking mission, by as
much as 20 K. This trend in colder, probably less dusty at-
mospheric conditions since the Viking era has been identified
earlier (Clancy et al. 1990, 1996).
4.2. Water Vapor
The water vapor distribution is expected to be governed by
saturation vapor pressure; therefore, knowledge of the vertical
temperature profile is important. Different water vapor distri-
butions are shown in Figure 4: a constant 30 parts per million
(ppm) profile, a profile of 200 ppm in the lower atmosphere
and following vapor pressure saturation above 7 km (based on
the best-fit temperature from the previous section), and pro-
files that are factors of 10 greater and lesser than this profile
at 35 km. We performed radiative transfer modeling of the
H2O (110101) transition in the Martian atmosphere using each
of the four distributions of water vapor. The resulting spectra,
convolved to the instrumental resolution, are overlaid in Fig-
ure 3 on the observed water vapor spectrum.
The model spectrum based on a constant profile is too narrow
in the far wings and too broad in the core to be considered a
good fit to the data. From this, we find that the surface abun-
dance of water vapor is most likely close to 200 ppm, but it
could be higher by a factor of 2. Since the bandwidth of the
instrument is much narrower than the line, the water vapor
abundance at low altitudes (with higher pressure broadening)
L146 SWAS OBSERVATIONS OF MARS
is not well determined. The mixing ratio of water vapor below
10 km is better measured with a much broader spectrometer
(11 GHz), in which differences in model spectra would be
more evident.
The three profiles based on subsaturation, 100% saturation,
and supersaturation all give more reasonable fits to the observed
water line, with the spectrum produced from a profile of 100%
saturation being the best fit. For the line center, the best-fit
profile has a calculated opacity of about 800, and the disk
average contribution function peaks near 40 km. The contri-
bution function calculated for Dn p 2400 MHz, at the ob-
served band edge, peaks near 9 km, confirming that these data
are fairly insensitive to the water vapor abundance below the
altitude of saturation. From the best-fit profile, we have cal-
culated the total column abundance to be 8112 23
precipitable
microns.
A comparison of these models with the observed spectrum
shows that the water vapor distribution above about 10 km is
well matched by a profile of 100% relative humidity (RH),
which is determined from the atmospheric temperature profile.
We estimate that the atmospheric RH was 50%100% based
on our radiative transfer modeling, with 100% providing the
best fit, and that the spectrum is best fitted by a profile that is
constant with altitude to within a factor of 2.
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5. CONCLUSION
These SWAS observations provide an important opportunity
to measure simultaneously the global average vertical profiles
of temperature and water vapor. From the 13CO (54) spectrum,
we verify the cool atmospheric temperatures obtained through
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measured H2O (110101) spectrum is well matched by an at-
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We thank R. T. Clancy for providing the contemporaneously
measured temperature profile of the Martian atmosphere and
referee E. Lellouch for his helpful comments. The SWAS team
gratefully acknowledges NASA contract NAS5-30702. R.
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