Investigating the Role of Advection Processes in Improved Martian Dust Assimilation Techniques for ExoMars

Mineral dust is a key component in the atmosphere of Mars, and understanding its properties and behaviour is therefore key for planning and performing future activity on the planet. Data assimilation is a technique for combining observations with an atmospheric model, in this case the LMD-UK Mars General Circulation Model (MGCM). We describe its benefits and previous work in Martian data assimilation, and demonstrate its utility by examining a regional dust event in Mars Year 26 using Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) dust optical depth observations. We set out aims to improve upon current dust assimilation techniques, specifically regarding the advection of dust within the assimilation, in preparation for forthcoming high-resolution dust observations from the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and its NOMAD spectrometer