• Login
    View Item 
    •   Home
    • UA Graduate and Undergraduate Research
    • UA Theses and Dissertations
    • Dissertations
    • View Item
    •   Home
    • UA Graduate and Undergraduate Research
    • UA Theses and Dissertations
    • Dissertations
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Browse

    All of UA Campus RepositoryCommunitiesTitleAuthorsIssue DateSubmit DateSubjectsPublisherJournalThis CollectionTitleAuthorsIssue DateSubmit DateSubjectsPublisherJournal

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    About

    AboutUA Faculty PublicationsUA DissertationsUA Master's ThesesUA Honors ThesesUA PressUA YearbooksUA CatalogsUA Libraries

    Statistics

    Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

    Tides in the Martian atmosphere, and other topics

    • CSV
    • RefMan
    • EndNote
    • BibTex
    • RefWorks
    Thumbnail
    Name:
    azu_td_3090021_sip1_m.pdf
    Size:
    6.854Mb
    Format:
    PDF
    Download
    Author
    Withers, Paul G.
    Issue Date
    2003
    Keywords
    Physics, Astronomy and Astrophysics.
    Advisor
    Bougher, Stephen W.
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Publisher
    The University of Arizona.
    Rights
    Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.
    Abstract
    The dynamics of the martian upper atmosphere are not well-understood. I have identified the dominant tidal modes present in the upper atmosphere by comparing density measurements from the aerobraking of the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft to predictions from classical tidal theory. Other observations and general circulation models have also provided constraints. I have presented a justification for why topography has a strong influence on the tides in the upper atmosphere. I have also studied sol-to-sol variations in density at fixed altitude, latitude, longitude, season, and time of day. I have developed a novel "Balanced Arch" technique to derive pressures and temperature from these density measurements that also estimates the zonal wind speed in the atmosphere. These are the first measurements of winds in the martian upper atmosphere. This technique can also be applied to anticipated data from Titan to measure winds in its upper atmosphere. I have developed techniques to derive density, pressure, and temperature profiles from entry accelerometer data, used them to investigate the entry of Mars Pathfinder, and discovered that surprisingly accurate temperature profiles can be derived without using any aerodynamic information at all. I have also investigated techniques to derive atmospheric properties from the Doppler shift in telemetry from a spacecraft during atmospheric entry and found that a surprisingly robust estimate of temperature at peak acceleration can be derived. I have discovered a network of tectonic ridges in the otherwise bland northern plains of Mars and studied their implications for a possible ocean in that area. I have tested the hypothesis that the formation of lunar crater Giordano Bruno was witnessed in 1178 AD and rejected it due to the lack of any observations of the immense meteor storm that must have followed the crater's formation.
    Type
    text
    Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic)
    Degree Name
    Ph.D.
    Degree Level
    doctoral
    Degree Program
    Graduate College
    Planetary Sciences
    Degree Grantor
    University of Arizona
    Collections
    Dissertations

    entitlement

     
    The University of Arizona Libraries | 1510 E. University Blvd. | Tucson, AZ 85721-0055
    Tel 520-621-6442 | repository@u.library.arizona.edu
    DSpace software copyright © 2002-2017  DuraSpace
    Quick Guide | Contact Us | Send Feedback
    Open Repository is a service operated by 
    Atmire NV
     

    Export search results

    The export option will allow you to export the current search results of the entered query to a file. Different formats are available for download. To export the items, click on the button corresponding with the preferred download format.

    By default, clicking on the export buttons will result in a download of the allowed maximum amount of items.

    To select a subset of the search results, click "Selective Export" button and make a selection of the items you want to export. The amount of items that can be exported at once is similarly restricted as the full export.

    After making a selection, click one of the export format buttons. The amount of items that will be exported is indicated in the bubble next to export format.