The vertical temperature structure of the Martian atmosphere differs from Earth's atmosphere in many ways.
Information about the vertical structure is usually inferred by using the observations from thermal infrared soundings, radio occultation, aerobraking, landers' entry profiles.
Mars's atmosphere can be classified into three layers according to the average temperature profile:
Troposphere (≈0–40 km): The layer where most of the weather phenomena (e.g. convection and dust storms) take place.
Its dynamics is heavily driven by the daytime surface heating and the amount of suspended dust.
Mars has a higher scale height of 11.1 km than Earth (8.5 km) because of its weaker gravity.
The theoretical dry adiabatic lapse rate of Mars is 4.3 °C km⁻¹, but the measured average lapse rate is about 2.5 °C km⁻¹ because the suspended dust particles absorb solar radiation and heat the air.
The planetary boundary layer can extend to over 10 km thick during the daytime.
The near-surface diurnal temperature range is huge (60 °C) due to the low thermal inertia.
Under dusty conditions, the suspended dust particles can reduce the surface diurnal temperature range to only 5 °C.
The temperature above 15 km is controlled by radiative processes instead of convection.
Mars is also a rare exception to the "0.1-bar tropopause" rule found in the other atmospheres in solar system.

Mesosphere (≈40–100 km): The layer that has the lowest temperature.
CO₂ in the mesosphere acts as a cooling agent by efficiently radiating heat into space.
Stellar occultation observations show that the mesopause of Mars locates at about 100 km (around 0.01 to 0.001 Pa level) and has a temperature of 100-120 K. The temperature can sometimes be lower than the frost point of CO₂, and detections of CO₂ ice clouds in the Martian mesosphere have been reported.

Thermosphere (≈100–230 km): The layer is mainly controlled by extreme UV heating.
The temperature of the Martian thermosphere increases with altitude and varies by season.
The daytime temperature of the upper thermosphere ranges from 175 K (at aphelion) to 240 K (at perihelion) and can reach up to 390 K, but it is still significantly lower than the temperature of Earth's thermosphere.
The higher concentration of CO₂ in the Martian thermosphere may explain part of the discrepancy because of the cooling effects of CO₂ in high altitude.
It is thought that auroral heating processes is not important in the Martian thermosphere because of the absence of a strong magnetic field in Mars, but the MAVEN orbiter has detected several aurora events.


Mars does not have a persistent stratosphere due to the lack of shortwave-absorbing species in its middle atmosphere (e.g. stratospheric ozone in Earth's atmosphere and organic haze in Jupiter's atmosphere) for creating a temperature inversion.
However, a seasonal ozone layer and a strong temperature inversion in the middle atmosphere have been observed over the Martian south pole.
The altitude of the turbopause of Mars varies greatly from 60 to 140 km, and the variability is driven by the CO₂ density in the lower thermosphere.
Mars also has a complicated ionosphere that interacts with the solar wind particles, extreme UV radiation and X-rays from Sun, and the magnetic field of its crust.
The exosphere of Mars starts at about 230 km and gradually merges with interplanetary space.
The vertical temperature structure of the Martian atmosphere differs from Earth's atmosphere in many ways. Information about the vertical structure is usually inferred by using the observations from thermal infrared soundings, radio occultation, aerobraking, landers' entry profiles. Mars's atmosphere can be classified into three layers according to the average temperature profile:
Troposphere (≈0–40 km): The layer where most of the weather phenomena (e.g. convection and dust storms) take place. Its dynamics is heavily driven by the daytime surface heating and the amount of suspended dust. Mars has a higher scale height of 11.1 km than Earth (8.5 km) because of its weaker gravity. The theoretical dry adiabatic lapse rate of Mars is 4.3 °C km⁻¹, but the measured average lapse rate is about 2.5 °C km⁻¹ because the suspended dust particles absorb solar radiation and heat the air. The planetary boundary layer can extend to over 10 km thick during the daytime. The near-surface diurnal temperature range is huge (60 °C) due to the low thermal inertia. Under dusty conditions, the suspended dust particles can reduce the surface diurnal temperature range to only 5 °C. The temperature above 15 km is controlled by radiative processes instead of convection. Mars is also a rare exception to the "0.1-bar tropopause" rule found in the other atmospheres in solar system.
Mesosphere (≈40–100 km): The layer that has the lowest temperature. CO₂ in the mesosphere acts as a cooling agent by efficiently radiating heat into space. Stellar occultation observations show that the mesopause of Mars locates at about 100 km (around 0.01 to 0.001 Pa level) and has a temperature of 100-120 K. The temperature can sometimes be lower than the frost point of CO₂, and detections of CO₂ ice clouds in the Martian mesosphere have been reported.
Thermosphere (≈100–230 km): The layer is mainly controlled by extreme UV heating. The temperature of the Martian thermosphere increases with altitude and varies by season. The daytime temperature of the upper thermosphere ranges from 175 K (at aphelion) to 240 K (at perihelion) and can reach up to 390 K, but it is still significantly lower than the temperature of Earth's thermosphere. The higher concentration of CO₂ in the Martian thermosphere may explain part of the discrepancy because of the cooling effects of CO₂ in high altitude. It is thought that auroral heating processes is not important in the Martian thermosphere because of the absence of a strong magnetic field in Mars, but the MAVEN orbiter has detected several aurora events.

Mars does not have a persistent stratosphere due to the lack of shortwave-absorbing species in its middle atmosphere (e.g. stratospheric ozone in Earth's atmosphere and organic haze in Jupiter's atmosphere) for creating a temperature inversion. However, a seasonal ozone layer and a strong temperature inversion in the middle atmosphere have been observed over the Martian south pole. The altitude of the turbopause of Mars varies greatly from 60 to 140 km, and the variability is driven by the CO₂ density in the lower thermosphere. Mars also has a complicated ionosphere that interacts with the solar wind particles, extreme UV radiation and X-rays from Sun, and the magnetic field of its crust. The exosphere of Mars starts at about 230 km and gradually merges with interplanetary space.
Atmosphere of Mars