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Mars has a higher scale height of 11.1 km than Earth (8.5 km) because of its weaker gravity. [5] The theoretical dry adiabatic lapse rate of Mars is 4.3 °C km −1, [131] but the measured average lapse rate is about 2.5 °C km −1 because the suspended dust particles absorb solar radiation and heat the air. [2]
The average surface pressure on Mars is 0.6-0.9 kPa, compared to about 101 kPa for Earth. This results in a much lower atmospheric thermal inertia, and as a consequence Mars is subject to strong thermal tides that can change total atmospheric pressure by up to 10%. The thin atmosphere also increases the variability of the planet's temperature.
Mars' cloudy sky as seen by Perseverance rover in 2023, sol 738.. The climate of Mars has been a topic of scientific curiosity for centuries, in part because it is the only terrestrial planet whose surface can be easily directly observed in detail from the Earth with help from a telescope.
Compared to Earth, the atmosphere of Mars is quite rarefied. Atmospheric pressure on the surface today ranges from a low of 30 Pa (0.0044 psi) on Olympus Mons to over 1,155 Pa (0.1675 psi) in Hellas Planitia, with a mean pressure at the surface level of 600 Pa (0.087 psi). [116]
Mars has only about 0.7% of the atmospheric pressure of Earth. Mars' atmosphere is about 6.5 millibar, Earth's atmosphere is 1013 millibar. Surface of Mars is like Earth at 100,000 feet (30 kilometres) in the stratosphere. [19] [20] Mars' atmosphere's humidity is 0.03%, Earth's average humidity is about 50% (lowest 0.36%, high 100%).
These figures should be compared with the temperature and density of Earth's atmosphere plotted at NRLMSISE-00, which shows the air density dropping from 1200 g/m 3 at sea level to 0.125 g/m 3 at 70 km, a factor of 9600, indicating an average scale height of 70 / ln(9600) = 7.64 km, consistent with the indicated average air temperature over ...
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Atmospheric pressure, also known as air pressure or barometric pressure (after the barometer), is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth.The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure defined as 101,325 Pa (1,013.25 hPa), which is equivalent to 1,013.25 millibars, [1] 760 mm Hg, 29.9212 inches Hg, or 14.696 psi. [2]