Weather

here are some pointers to get you started with mars weather:

• mars atmosphere: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Mars
• mars global circulation model: http://astrogeo.oxfordjournals.org/content/44/4/4.6.full
• overview about open source climate modelling for beginners: http://www.easterbrook.ca/steve/2009/06/getting-the-source-code-for-climate-models/ & http://www.easterbrook.ca/steve/2013/01/simple-climate-models-to-play-with-in-the-classroom/
• an open source climate modelling software called "planet simulator" with models for earth, mars and titan, and with particularly nice screenshots, unfortunately written in fortran: http://www.mi.uni-hamburg.de/Planet-Simul.216.0.html?&L=3

the basic idea is to have a very much simplified climate & weather for msp, so we get seasonal variations in temperature and air pressure due to freezing and thawing of a significant fraction of the atmosphere at the polar caps. another idea is to use that weather information to allow modeling dirigibles (lighter than air craft), aerobreak maneuvers, reduced life support requirements in lower lying terrain, wind directions and speeds for wind turbines, dust storms to cover solar panels and block communications, weather satellites in orbit, and generally more tasks for the meteorologically inclined settlers.