Inferring the Speed of Sound and Wind in the Nighttime Martian Boundary Layer From Impact‐Generated Infrasound

Abstract

AbstractThe properties of the first kilometers of the Martian atmospheric Planetary Boundary Layer have until now been measured by only a few instruments and probes. InSight offers an opportunity to investigate this region through seismoacoustics. On six occasions, its seismometers recorded short low‐frequency waveforms, with clear dispersion between 0.4 and 4 Hz. These signals are the air‐to‐ground coupling of impact‐generated infrasound, which propagated in an low‐altitude atmospheric waveguide. Their group velocity depends on the structure of effective sound speed in the boundary layer. Here, we conduct a Bayesian inversion of effective sound speed up to 2,000 m altitude using the group velocity measured for events S0981c, S0986c and S1034a. The inverted effective sound speed profiles are in good agreement with estimates provided by the Mars Climate Database. Differences between inverted and modeled profiles can be attributed to a local wind variation in the impact→station direction, of amplitude smaller than 2 m/s.