ATMOSPHERIC EFFECTS ON THE MAPPING OF MARTIAN THERMAL INERTIA AND THERMALLY DERIVED ALBEDO

We examine the effects of a dusty CO2 atmosphere on the thermal inerti a and thermally derived albedo of Mars and we present a new map of the rmal inertias. This new map was produced using a coupled surface atmos phere (CSA) model, dust opacities from Viking infrared thermal mapper (IRTM) data, and CO2 columns based on topography. The CSA model therma l inertias are smaller than the 2% model thermal inertias, with the di fference largest at large thermal inertia. Although the difference bet ween the thermal inertias obtained with the two models is moderate for much of the region studied, it is largest in regions of either high d ust opacity or of topographic lows, including the Viking Lander 1 site and some geologically interesting regions. The CSA model thermally de rived albedos do not accurately predict the IRTM measured albedos and are very similar to the thermally derived albedos obtained with models making the 2% assumption.