TRANSPORT OF DUST TO HIGH NORTHERN LATITUDES IN A MARTIAN POLAR WARMING

The transport of dust to high northern latitudes in a Martian polar warming (and global dust storm) is investigated. General considerations of the dynamics of such an atmospheric warming indicate that transport of "tracers' such as dust to polar latitudes should take place, regardless of the specific dynamical mechanism involved. Attention is focused upon a planetary wave induced polar warming, with a simplified transport model employed in conjunction with a beta-plane dynamical model to simulate the transport of dust during a warming event. Numerical experiments are performed to examine the influence of different warming dynamics and to assess the sensitivity of the transport to the initial dust distribution. Several simulations incorporating sedimentation are carried out, allowing examination of dust deposition at polar latitudes. -from Author