Difference between revisions of "Dust devils"
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| − | + | File:Russel Crater Dust Devil Changes.jpg|Pattern of large and small tracks made by giant dust devils, as seen by Mars Global Surveyor under the MOC Public Targeting Program | |
Image:Russel Crater Dust Devil Changes.JPG|Russell Crater dust devil changes in Noachis quadrangle, as seen by HiRISE. Click on image to see changes in dust devil tracks in just 3 months. | Image:Russel Crater Dust Devil Changes.JPG|Russell Crater dust devil changes in Noachis quadrangle, as seen by HiRISE. Click on image to see changes in dust devil tracks in just 3 months. | ||
Image:ESP 036631 2335devilsbottom.jpg|Dust devil tracks, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program. Location is Casius quadrangle. | Image:ESP 036631 2335devilsbottom.jpg|Dust devil tracks, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program. Location is Casius quadrangle. | ||
Revision as of 10:45, 29 May 2018
Dust devils are a common appearance on the Martian surface. They show local atmospheric turbulences.
Dust devils leave dark marks on the surface of Mars because they disturb a thin coating of fine bright dust that covers most of the Martian surface. If a dust devil goes by the coating of dust is removed, consequently exposing an underlying dark surface. Within a few weeks, the dark track assumes its former pale color, either by being re-covered through wind action or due to surface oxidation through exposure to sunlight and the Martian atmosphere.
Contents
Formation and dynamics
Dust devils occur when the sun warms up the air near a flat, dry surface. The warm air then rises quickly through the cooler air and begins spinning while moving ahead. This spinning, moving cell may pick up dust and sand and leave behind a clean surface.[1]
Observations
Dust devils on Mars have been photographed both from the ground and high overhead from orbit. They did scientists a big favor by blowing dust off the solar panels of two Rovers on Mars, thereby greatly extending their useful lifetime.[2] The pattern of the tracks has been shown to change every few months.[3] A study that combined data from the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) and the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) found that some large dust devils on Mars have a diameter of 700 meters and last at least 26 minutes.[4] One dust devil was measured at having a 12 mile height. [5] One team of researchers found that on any given day on average about one dust devil pops up for every per square kilometre of surface. With a 145 million square kilometer surface area that means that – there are millions of dust devils every day on Mars. One would be able to see dozens of them at any one time.[6] [7] [8]
A picture of a dust devil that was previously imaged in 2009, showed the tracks visible from two years before were completely different from the old ones meaning there had been a dust storm erased the old tracks.[9] The picture below shows how a dust storm can quickly cover the entire planet.
Mars without a dust storm on June 2001 (on left) and with a global dust storm on July 2001 (on right), as seen by Mars Global Surveyor
Images of dust devils and dust devil tracks
Dust devil on Mars (Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Dust devil is on the left and its track to the right.
Dust devils cause twisting dark trails on the Martian surface.
Serpent dust devil of Mars (Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The white dust devil displays it shadow.
Pattern of large and small tracks made by giant dust devils, as seen by Mars Global Surveyor under the MOC Public Targeting Program
Russell Crater dust devil changes in Noachis quadrangle, as seen by HiRISE. Click on image to see changes in dust devil tracks in just 3 months.
Dust devil tracks, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program. Location is Casius quadrangle.
Dust devil tracks near top right of image in Danielson Crater, as seen by HiRISE. Location is Arabia quadrangle.
References
- ↑ HiRISE | (PSP_00481_2410). Hirise.lpl.arizona.edu. Retrieved on 7 August 2011.
- ↑ http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20070412a.html Mars Exploration Rover Mission: Press Release Images: Spirit]. Marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov. Retrieved on 7 August 2011.
- ↑ http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_005383_1255
- ↑ Reiss, D. et al. 2011. Multitemporal observations of identical active dust devils on Mars with High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) and Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC). Icarus. 215:358-369.
- ↑ https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/news/mro20120404.html
- ↑ https://www.newscientist.com/article/2143217-marss-surface-hosts-millions-of-towering-dust-devils-every-day/
- ↑ https://arxiv.org/abs/1708.00484
- ↑ Jackson, B., et al. 2018. Framework for Relating the Structures and Recovery Statistics in Pressure Time-Series Surveys for Dust Devils. Icarus. 299: 166-174.
- ↑ http://www.uahirise.org/ESP_031199_2070%7Ctitle=Dust Devil Tracks|last=|first=|date=15 May 2013|website=HiRISE.com|publisher=|access-date=30 November 2016
See also
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