Mars Climate Simulator

Mars and the terrestrial planets

The "Mars Climate Simulator" project is part of the DFG-Schwerpunktprogramm 1115: "Mars and the terrestrial planets". The project investigates the current and ancient Martian climate, its stability and mechanisms of changes by means of a modular planet simulator model.

Science objectives

MPS contribution
contact: Grieger

Related links

Mars DFG publications by MPS members

Science objectives

The climate of Mars, its stability and mechanisms of changes are investigated. Particularly the interaction between atmosphere and the polar layered terrains is addressed. At times of maximum obliquety of the rotational axis of Mars, a warmer and wetter climate than Today could have caused an extension of the layered terrains. The investigations are based on a synthesis of integral modeling and mission data. A model of the climate system is developed, the "Mars Simulator", which allows the simulation of climate changes over long time scales. The model describes the dynamics and the interaction of the individual subsystem with simplyfied representation of the respective components. It is also intended to be used for the comparison of climate evolution on Mars and Earth. The model development rests on currently already available data and aims at the integeration of new data from the Mars Express mission. Simulation results can contribute to the planning of Mars Express experiments.

MPS contribution