The Perseverance Rover’s Mastcam-Z Visible Aerosol Optical Depth Record

Cameras on the Perseverance Rover have been used to characterize the Martian sky and contribute to a valuable meteorological record in the northern tropics in and near Jezero crater (77.5°E longitude, 18.4°N latitude). This dataset includes measurements of optical depth via solar images taken by Mastcam-Z in four channels centered at 480, 544, 630, and 880 nm. The measurements were made using solar images and synthetic aperture photometry to determine solar flux. The results show typical Martian seasonal patterns, including several dust storms and ice clouds.