Atmosphere of Mars slowly decreased to very low concentrations, with no layer detectable above 35 km. The reporting scientists think that the observed polar ozone layers are the result of the same atmospheric circulation pattern that creates a distinct oxygen emission identified in the polar night and also present in Earth's atmosphere. This circulation takes the form of a huge Hadley cell in which warmer air rises and travels toward the south pole before cooling and sinking at higher latitudes. Mars is on a quite elliptical orbit and has a large axial tilt, which causes extreme seasonal variations in temperature amongst the northern
Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite simultaneously. SUSIM measured ultraviolet (UV) emissions from the sun. The observations are made both through vacuum and through occultations of the sun through the atmosphere. This allowed a comparison of the amount of UV light that reaches the earth and the amount absorbed by the upper atmosphere. Because of the energy of UV, instrument degradation is a major issue. To help with this problem, the instrument contained two identical spectrometers. One was used almost continuously during the daylight portion of UARS’ orbit. The second was used infrequently to verify the sensitivity of the first. The Solar Stellar Irradiance Comparison Experiment