Statistical Analysis Of Curiosity Data Shows No Evidence For A Strong Seasonal Cycle Of Martian Methane

Using Gaussian Process regression to analyze the Martian surface methane Tunable Laser Spectrometer (TLS) data reported by Webster (2018), we find that the TLS data, taken as a whole, are not statistically consistent with seasonal variability.

The subset of data derived from an enrichment protocol of TLS, if considered in isolation, are equally consistent with either stochastic processes or periodic variability, but the latter does not favour seasonal variation.

Ed Gillen, Paul B Rimmer, David C Catling
(Submitted on 6 Aug 2019)

Comments: 13 pages, 2 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication as a Note in Icarus
Subjects: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP)
Cite as: arXiv:1908.02041 [astro-ph.EP] (or arXiv:1908.02041v1 [astro-ph.EP] for this version)
Submission history
From: Paul B. Rimmer
[v1] Tue, 6 Aug 2019 09:47:52 UTC (797 KB)
https://arxiv.org/abs/1908.02041
Astrobiology