MCC’s First-Ever Observation of a High-Altitude Plume Cloud on Mars: Linkages with Space Weather?

Abstract

Various Mars missions and telescopic remote observations have provided a comprehensive understanding of the complex atmospheric phenomenon and the structure of the Martian atmosphere. Several studies reported remote observation of layered clouds up to 100 km on Mars. Based on telescope data, observation of an unusual plume at an altitude of 200–250 km during March–April 2012 was reported. No such observation from any Mars orbiting spacecraft has been reported so far. Using data from the Mars Colour Camera onboard the Mars Orbiter Mission acquired on 4 January 2016, we report the occurrence of a high-altitude bright plume at the Martian evening terminator at an altitude of 260–300 km above the surface. The plume is observed at Meridiani Planum with a central location near 4.9°E and 9.5°S. Five images acquired within 10 min shows rapid variability in plume shape due to the movement of spacecraft and Mars. Preliminary analysis of MAVEN in-situ measurements shows an extremely disturbed solar wind plasma state during the plume observation time. We cautiously conclude that the formation of this high-altitude plume may result from interplanetary coronal mass ejection that occurred on 28 December 2015 that impacted Mars at around 3–4 January 2016 as confirmed by the analysis of simulation results and of in-situ solar wind data.