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Updated: Sep 23, 2025

Surface Renewal: An Advanced Micrometeorological Method for Measuring and Processing Field-Scale Energy Flux Density Data
Published on: December 12, 2013
Mars' emitted energy and seasonal energy imbalance
Ellen Creecy1, Liming Li2, Xun Jiang1
1Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77004.
Abstract:
SignificanceThe radiant energy budget is a fundamental metric for planets. Based on the observations from multiple missions, we provide a global picture of Mars' emitted power. Furthermore, we estimate the radiant energy budget of Mars, which suggests that there are energy imbalances at the time scale of Mars' seasons. Such energy imbalances provide a new perspective to understanding the generating mechanism of dust storms. Mars' radiant energy budget is assumed to be balanced at all time scales in current models and theories, but our analyses show that the energy budget is not balanced, at least at the time scale of Mars' seasons. Therefore, current theories and models should be revisited with the newly revealed energy characteristics.
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