Surface Energy Fluxes and Temperatures at Jezero Crater, Mars

Diurnal ground surface and air temperatures (T-g, T-a) and the five major surface energy budget fluxes are displayed as derived from M2020 mission observations and from column model simulations in two extreme cases (low and high diurnal T-g-variation) along the Perseverance rover track in the Jezero crater. In both cases the fluxes and T-g are well modeled when using diurnally variable apparent ground thermal inertia I derived via a Fourier series method from the hourly observations. Hence the measurements, the diagnostic method and the model results are consistent with high- and low-I nonhomogeneous terrain in the field-of-view (FOV) of the thermal infrared and solar sensors. In contrast less extreme values of I consistent with THEMIS retrievals are necessary for good simulations of observed T-a. We deduce that the measured T-g for the small similar to 3 m(2) FOV may not always be representative for the larger region around the rover, which controls the near-surface atmospheric temperature profile.