Previous observations have shown that, during Martian dust storms, the peak of the ionosphere rises in altitude. Observational studies of this type, however, have been extremely limited. Using 13 years of ionospheric peak altitude data from the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding instrument on Mars Express, we study how the peak altitude responded to dust storms during six different Mars years (MY). The peak altitude increased ∼10–15 km during all six events, which include a local dust storm (MY 33), three regional dust storms (MYs 27, 29, and 32), and two global dust storms (MYs 28 and 34). The peak altitude's orbit‐to‐orbit variability was exceptionally large at the apexes of the MY 29 and MY 32 dust seasons and dramatically increased during the MY 28 and MY 34 global dust storms. We conclude that dust storms significantly increase upper atmospheric variability, which suggests that they enhance dynamical processes that couple the lower and upper atmospheres, such as upward propagating gravity waves or atmospheric tides.

中文翻译：

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火星电离层峰值高度对沙尘暴的响应：来自火星快车雷达测深仪13年的观测

先前的观察结果表明，在火星沙尘暴期间，电离层的峰值高度会升高。但是，这种类型的观察研究非常有限。使用来自Mars Express上火星地下和电离层探测仪器的13年电离层峰值高度数据，我们研究了在六个不同的火星年（MY）中，峰值高度如何响应沙尘暴。在所有六个事件中，最高海拔增加了约10-15 km，其中包括局部沙尘暴（MY 33），三个区域性沙尘暴（27、29和32，MYS）和两个全球沙尘暴（28和34，MYS）。 。在MY 29和MY 32沙尘季节的最高峰，高峰高度的轨道间变化异常大，而在MY 28和MY 34的全球沙尘暴期间，峰值高度的轨道变化却非常大。