Spacecraft study of the Solar system is one of humanity's most
outstanding achievements. Thanks to this study, our present knowledge of
properties of and conditions on the planets exceeds many-fold that of 20
years ago: planets have been rediscovered. This is especially the case
for planetary atmospheres, whose properties were for the most part
either not at all or only erroneously known. Much research has been
invested in the study of the atmospheres of Mars and Venus, and their
chemical composition and photochemistry are basic problems in these
studies. In the present publication I have tried to summarize all
findings in this field. The English version of the book includes new
data in the field from the last 3 years since the book was published in
Russian. I wish to thank U. von Zahn, who initiated my talks with
Springer-Verlag and acted as technical editor. December 2, 1985 V. A.
KRASNOPOLSKY Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1
Chemical Composition and Structure of the Martian Atmosphere 4 1. 1
Carbon Dioxide and Atmospheric Pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . 4 1. 2 CO and O Mixing Ratios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 2 1. 3 Ozone. . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 10 1. 4 Water Vapor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 1. 5 Composition of the Upper
Atmosphere as Determined from Airglow Spectroscopy . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 1. 6 Mass
Spectrometric Measurements of the Atmospheric Composition . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 31 1. 7 Ionospheric Composition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 1. 8 Temperature Profile of the Lower
Atmosphere. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 1. 9 Temperature of the
Upper Atmosphere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 1. 10
Eddy Diffusion Coefficient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . 42 2 Photochemistry of the Martian Atmosphere . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
