Martian Local time used in the Mars Climate Database
Martian hours
Martian hours are (just as their earth counterparts) defined as lasting
1/24th of a sol. (1 sol = 88775 seconds)
In order
to avoid confusions, we do not use (or define) martian minutes or seconds:
any (martian) time of day is always given
as martian hours and decimal fraction thereof.
Local true solar time
This time corresponds to a Local True Solar Time,
related to the position of the sun in the sky
Noon occurs when the sun is highest in the sky, at local
true solar time LTST=12.0 martian hours (in other
words, Local True Solar Time is the value that would be
read on a sundial).
Universal Time on Mars
Universal time
LTST0
(denoted UMST in the Mars Climate Database) is the Local Time at Longitude 0
For the sake of simplicity, we do not use or
define time zones. Local True Solar Time LTST at east longitude lon
(in degrees) can easily computed as: