New insights into the Martian ozone deficit problem from an uncertainty propagation study

Clicks: 13
ID: 333400
2026
Free PDF
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal
Emerging

Ranked #1,124 of 1,339 articles by views in monthly notices of the royal astronomical society

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale. Only the 120 most-read articles are drawn; the journal has 1,339 in total.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Sign in to mint
Abstract
Abstract Photochemical models of the Martian atmosphere have long suffered from a persistent “ozone deficit”. This discrepancy is typically attributed to missing physical or chemical processes, particularly involving odd-hydrogen chemistry. Here, we instead quantify the impact of uncertainties in chemical reaction kinetics on modelled ozone, which has received comparatively little attention. We perform a global sensitivity analysis using the 1-D configuration of the Mars Planetary Climate Model (MPCM) by perturbing all photochemical rates within their uncertainty ranges. Rank correlation coefficients (RCCs) are used to identify reactions that exert the strongest control on ozone variability. We find that reactions governing hydroxyl radical (OH) production and direct ozone loss dominate the anticorrelation with ozone, while oxygen-producing pathways are positively correlated. Several reactions involving the hydroperoxyl radical (HO2) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) that do not produce OH also contribute positively. Guided by these results, we implement targeted rate adjustments in the 3-D MPCM. These modifications produce systematic increases in ozone column densities and vertical mixing ratios across all seasons and latitudes, without perturbing the simulated water cycle. The resulting ozone fields show improved agreement with ACS MIR vertical profiles. Our results demonstrate that uncertainties in reaction kinetics can account for a substantial fraction of the ozone deficit, reducing the need to invoke additional processes, such as heterogeneous uptake on dust. We provide a list of key uncertainty reactions that should be prioritized in new lab campaigns under Mars conditions to improve model performance and better quantify biases before implementing new processes.
Reference Key
openalex_W7223139776 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Benjamin Benne, Paul I Palmer, Franck Lefèvre, Ehouarn Millour, Kevin Sutherland Olsen
Are you one of these authors? Claim your profile
Journal monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/mnras/stag1984
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stag1984
Keywords Keywords not found

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.