A 3D model simulation of hydrogen chloride photochemistry on Mars: Comparison with satellite data

¹ The University of Edinburgh, School of GeoSciences, Edinburgh, UK
² Centre for Exoplanet Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
³ Institut für Planetenforschung (PF), Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Rutherfordstraße 2, 12489 Berlin, Germany
⁴ Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
⁵ School of Physical Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
⁶ Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS/CNRS), Paris, France

^★ Corresponding authors: benjamin.benne@ed.ac.uk; pip@ed.ac.uk

Received: 23 January 2025
Accepted: 26 May 2025

Abstract

Context. Hydrogen chloride (HCl) was independently detected in the Martian atmosphere by the Nadir and Occultation for MArs Discovery (NOMAD) and Atmospheric Chemistry Suite (ACS) spectrometers aboard the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO). Photochemical models show that using gas-phase chemistry alone is insufficient to reproduce these data. Recent work has developed a heterogeneous chemical network within a 1D photochemistry model, guided by the seasonal variability in HCl. This variability includes detection almost exclusively during the dust season, a positive correlation with water vapour, and an anticorrelation with water ice.

Aims. The aim of this work is to show that incorporating heterogeneous chlorine chemistry into a global 3D model of Martian photochemistry with conventional gas-phase chemistry can reproduce spatial and temporal changes in hydrogen chloride on Mars, as observed by instruments aboard the TGO.

Methods. We incorporated this heterogeneous chlorine scheme into the Mars Planetary Climate Model (MPCM). After some refinements to the scheme, mainly associated with it being employed in a 3D model, we used it to model chlorine photochemistry during Mars Years (MYs) 34 and 35. These two years provide contrasting dust scenarios, with MY 34 featuring a global dust storm. We also examined correlations in the model results between HCl and other key atmospheric quantities, as well as production and loss processes, to understand the impact of different factors driving changes in HCl.

Results. We find that the 3D model of Martian photochemistry using the proposed heterogeneous chemistry is consistent with the changes in HCl observed by ACS in MY 34 and MY 35, including detections and 70% of non-detections. For the remaining 30% of non-detections, model HCl is higher than the ACS detection limit due to biases associated with water vapour, dust, or water ice content at these locations. As with previous 1D model calculations, we find that heterogeneous chemistry is required to describe the loss of HCl, resulting in a lifetime of a few sols that is consistent with the observed seasonal variation in HCl. As a result of this proposed chemistry, modelled HCl is correlated with water vapour, airborne dust, and temperature, and anticorrelated with water ice. Our work shows that this chemical scheme enables the reproduction of aphelion detections in MY 35.