Scientists Map Water Vapor in Mars' Atmosphere

Most people are aware that Mars once harbored water. These days, water vapor can actually be found in the Martian atmosphere. Now, scientists have mapped the distribution of this water vapor, which tells them a bit more about the climate conditions on the Red Planet.

The researchers created the map with the help of the Russian-French SPICAM spectrometer onboard the Mars Express orbiter. SPICAM has collected data of seasonal variation of atmospheric concentrations for the past ten years.

Conditions on Mars actually don't allow water to exist in liquid form in open reservoirs and oceans. However, there is a layer of permafrost with large reserves of frozen water at the polar ice caps. In addition, there's water vapor in the atmosphere, though at very low levels compared to Earth's.

The scientists created a picture of the annual cycle of water vapor concentration variation in the atmosphere. This showed that the content of water vapor reached a maximum level of 60 to 70 microns of released water in the northern regions during the summer season. In addition, the scientists found a reduction in the concentration of water vapor during sandstorms.

"This research, based on one of the longest periods of monitoring of the Martian climate, has made an important contribution to the understanding of the Martian hydrological cycle-the most important of the climate mechanisms which could potentially support the existence of biological activity on the planet," said Alexander Rodin, co-author of the new study, in a news release.

 The findings reveal a bit more about the Martian atmosphere. As space agencies plan to send more missions to the planet in the future, this data will help them develop new machines to survive in the Martian climate.

The findings are published in the journal Icarus.

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