MCMC Science

The Mars Climate Modeling Center (MCMC) conducts atmospheric and climate science research using the NASA Ames Mars Global Climate Models (MGCMs), advancing our understanding of Mars’ climate today, in its ancient past, and as a target for future exploration.
Mars’ climate is governed by three interacting cycles — dust, water, and carbon dioxide (CO₂) — that vary across seasons and from year to year. MCMC scientists use the MGCMs to study these cycles and the processes that drive them, including:
- Dust storms and dust transport – Investigating the mechanisms that lift, transport, and remove dust in the Martian atmosphere, including the onset and evolution of regional and global-scale dust storms.
- Water and CO₂ cycles – Studying the seasonal exchange of water and CO₂ between the atmosphere, polar caps, and surface, and the clouds that form as a result.
- Atmospheric dynamics – Examining circulation patterns, wave-mean flow interactions, and the extension of the MGCM into the middle atmosphere to better connect the lower and upper atmosphere.
- Ancient Mars and habitability – Reconstructing past climate states, including the role of asteroid and comet impacts, to assess when and where conditions may have supported liquid water and habitability.
- Mission support – Applying model results to landing site selection and characterization, atmospheric entry planning, and interpretation of data from current and past Mars missions.