Martian mesospheric CO2 ice clouds are formed out of the main constituent of the Martian atmosphere: CO2 gas. The nature of these clouds is poorly understood, characterization of these clouds in terms of particle morphology would give valuable insight into the Martian climate. So
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Martian mesospheric CO2 ice clouds are formed out of the main constituent of the Martian atmosphere: CO2 gas. The nature of these clouds is poorly understood, characterization of these clouds in terms of particle morphology would give valuable insight into the Martian climate. So far, these CO2 clouds have only been detected from space. In this Master Thesis, feasibility of a surface-based observation strategy has been investigated to predict the flux and polarization signal of the CO2 clouds, using a Monte Carlo radiative transfer code. Simulation results suggest that the CO2 clouds are observable from the surface during twilight. Furthermore, it is concluded that observation from the surface allows for detection of the cloud's degree of polarization at a broad range of scattering angles, which is useful for effective characterization of cloud particle morphology.
