TY - JOUR
T1 - Out-of-season water escape during Mars' northern summer triggered by a strong localized dust storm
AU - Brines, Adrián
AU - Aoki, Shohei
AU - Daerden, Frank
AU - Chaffin, Michael S.
AU - Atwood, Samuel A.
AU - Raghuram, Susarla
AU - Cantor, Bruce A.
AU - Willame, Yannick
AU - Trompet, Loïc
AU - Villanueva, Geronimo L.
AU - Wolff, Michael J.
AU - Smith, Michael D.
AU - Edwards, Christopher S.
AU - Thomas, Ian R.
AU - Liuzzi, Giuliano
AU - Neary, Lori
AU - Patel, Manish R.
AU - López-Valverde, Miguel Angel
AU - Kleinböhl, Armin
AU - AlMazmi, Hoor
AU - Whiteway, James
AU - Vandaele, Ann Carine
AU - Ristic, Bojan
AU - Bellucci, Giancarlo
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2026.
PY - 2026/12
Y1 - 2026/12
N2 - Mars almost certainly had a considerable amount of water in its past. Recent observations reveal that during southern summer, when the atmosphere is warmer and dustier, water vapor can reach high altitudes without condensing, leading to water loss to space. Here, by combining infrared, visible, and ultraviolet data from multiple Mars orbiters, we identify a new pathway for water loss, observed for the first time to our knowledge during the opposite season. Our findings show that a strong, localized, and short-lived dust storm in Martian Year 37 (August 2023) drove considerable vertical transport of water vapor in the northern summer season. Just days after the storm, enhanced water vapor concentrations were observed at altitudes over 40 km across northern high latitudes, followed by an increase in escaping hydrogen detected at the exobase. These results suggest that water loss on Mars can be triggered by strong local dust storms at any time of year.
AB - Mars almost certainly had a considerable amount of water in its past. Recent observations reveal that during southern summer, when the atmosphere is warmer and dustier, water vapor can reach high altitudes without condensing, leading to water loss to space. Here, by combining infrared, visible, and ultraviolet data from multiple Mars orbiters, we identify a new pathway for water loss, observed for the first time to our knowledge during the opposite season. Our findings show that a strong, localized, and short-lived dust storm in Martian Year 37 (August 2023) drove considerable vertical transport of water vapor in the northern summer season. Just days after the storm, enhanced water vapor concentrations were observed at altitudes over 40 km across northern high latitudes, followed by an increase in escaping hydrogen detected at the exobase. These results suggest that water loss on Mars can be triggered by strong local dust storms at any time of year.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105029018952
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105029018952#tab=citedBy
U2 - 10.1038/s43247-025-03157-5
DO - 10.1038/s43247-025-03157-5
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:105029018952
SN - 2662-4435
VL - 7
JO - Communications Earth and Environment
JF - Communications Earth and Environment
IS - 1
M1 - 55
ER -