Washington: Researchers at MIT have determined the size of carbon dioxide snow particles in clouds at both Martian poles from data gathered by orbiting spacecraft.

In the dead of a Martian winter, clouds of snow blanket the Red Planet’s poles — but unlike our water-based snow, the particles on Mars are frozen crystals of carbon dioxide.

“These are very fine particles, not big flakes,” said Kerri Cahoy, the Boeing Career Development Assistant Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT.

If the carbon dioxide particles were eventually to fall and settle on the Martian surface, “you would probably see it as a fog, because they’re so small.”

Cahoy and graduate student Renyu Hu worked with Maria Zuber, the E.A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics at MIT, to analyze vast libraries of data gathered from instruments onboard the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). From the data, they determined the size of carbon dioxide snow particles in clouds, using measurements of the maximum buildup of surface snow at both poles. The buildup is about 50 percent larger at Mars’ south pole than its north pole.

Over the course of a Martian year (a protracted 687 days, versus Earth’s 365), the researchers observed that as it gets colder and darker from fall to winter, snow clouds expand from the planet’s poles toward its equator. The snow reaches halfway to the equator before shrinking back toward the poles as winter turns to spring, much like on Earth.

To get an accurate picture of carbon dioxide condensation on Mars, Hu analyzed an immense amount of data, including temperature and pressure profiles taken by the MRO every 30 seconds over the course of five Martian years (more than nine years on Earth). The researchers looked through the data to see where and when conditions would allow carbon dioxide cloud particles to form.

The team also sifted through measurements from the MGS’ laser altimeter, which measured the topography of the planet by sending laser pulses to the surface, then timing how long it took for the beams to bounce back. Every once in a while, the instrument picked up a strange signal when the beam bounced back faster than anticipated, reflecting off an anomalously high point above the planet’s surface. Scientists figured these laser beams had encountered clouds in the atmosphere.

Hu analyzed these cloud returns, looking for additional evidence to confirm carbon dioxide condensation. He looked at every case where a cloud was detected, then tried to match the laser altimeter data with concurrent data on local temperature and pressure. In 11 instances, the laser altimeter detected clouds when temperature and pressure conditions were ripe for carbon dioxide to condense. Hu then analyzed the opacity of each cloud — the amount of light reflected — and through calculations, determined the density of carbon dioxide in each cloud.

To estimate the total mass of carbon dioxide snow deposited at both poles, Hu used earlier measurements of seasonal variations in the Martian gravitational field done by Zuber’s group: As snow piles up at Mars’ poles each winter, the planet’s gravitational field changes by a tiny amount.

By analyzing the gravitational difference through the seasons, the researchers determined the total mass of snow at the north and south poles. Using the total mass, Hu figured out the number of snow particles in a given volume of snow cover, and from that, determined the size of the particles. In the north, molecules of condensed carbon dioxide ranged from 8 to 22 microns, while particles in the south were a smaller 4 to 13 microns.

Hu noted that knowing the size of carbon dioxide snow cloud particles on Mars might help researchers understand the properties and behavior of dust in the planet’s atmosphere.

The study was published in the Journal of Geophysical Research, which details the group’s results