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Posted by: Glevesque Mar 3 2023, 09:44 PM

I am looking for information on the temperature record (minimum and maximum) encountered by each of the Mars rovers during their mission (Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity).

Thank you, Gilles

Posted by: StargazeInWonder Mar 3 2023, 11:31 PM

One thing to keep in mind is that the temperature on Mars varies substantially as a function of extremely minor differences in altitude. Accordingly, without all of the various landers and rovers having made measurements at the same heights above the surface, it will not be possible to make a fair comparison between them. It might be possible to perform some reasonable extrapolations between measurements and the details you are interested in.

https://mars.nasa.gov/MPF/science/atmospheric.html

(On occasion, temperatures in certain indoor spaces on Earth show surprisingly large variation as one gets closer to the ceiling, where hot air has risen. The situation on Mars is something the reverse of that, where the dark surface is warmed by the sun, and that heat is transmitted upwards only poorly through the thin atmosphere.)

Posted by: rlorenz Mar 4 2023, 02:43 AM

You dont specify whether it is air temperature, or ground temperature, or equipment temperature....so a somewhat meaningless question......
But perhaps German Martinez' nice review article may tell you what you want to know

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11214-017-0360-x

Ralph

Posted by: Glevesque Mar 6 2023, 12:22 PM

Thank you for the info. To tell the truth, I didn't think that the temperature varied so much at the height of a man. I realized that the low pressure on Mars could have such a big effect on the temperature measured over a few meters intervals. Surprising, and indeed the lack of precision does not make it possible to verify variations on a large time scale, it remains difficult indeed. THANKS !

Posted by: Glevesque Mar 6 2023, 01:14 PM

Thank you Ralph, the links seem quite complete to me, I'll go through it carefully and see if I can find the information I'm looking for. I'll come back here to let you know after I read it.

Posted by: rlorenz Mar 6 2023, 05:39 PM

Actually, this is not especially important on Mars, in the sense that in a thin atmosphere the surface temperature is largely determined by radiative balance (thus, solar elevation and surface albedo). To a first order these effects, and thus on the large scale, latitude/season/timeofday, is the principal determinant of temperature.

Contrariwise, in a thick atmosphere, where convection dominates, it is the elevation (and hence the surface pressure) that controls temperature - qv Venus is almost isothermal vs latitude and time of day

It is an interesting coincidence that these effects are almost in balance at Earth, such that the mountains let you access polar temperatures, in a way.

Posted by: StargazeInWonder Mar 7 2023, 04:27 AM

I realize that I was unclear in saying "altitude" when I meant height above the surface, as opposed to altitude (of the surface) above some reference. Yes, during martian daytime, the top of a hill might be about the same temperature as a ground location near the base of that hill, but the air temperature at a location off the ground equal to the height of that hill would likely be much colder.

Posted by: nprev Mar 12 2023, 07:23 AM

Topic moved to Mars general thread since it involves multiple missions and overall planetary characteristics.