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Dust devil vortices seen by the Mars Pathfinder Camera
Author(s) -
Metzger Stephen M.,
Carr James R.,
Johnson Jeffrey R.,
Parker Timothy J.,
Lemmon Mark T.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/1999gl008341
Subject(s) - haze , mars exploration program , martian , atmosphere of mars , vortex , occultation , plume , astrobiology , mineral dust , environmental science , comet dust , atmospheric sciences , physics , cosmic dust , geology , aerosol , meteorology , astronomy , interplanetary dust cloud , solar system
Discovery of dust devil vortices in Mars Pathfinder (MPF) images reveals a dust entrainment mechanism at work on Mars. Scattering of visible light by dust in the Martian atmosphere creates a pronounced haze, preventing conventional image processing from displaying dust plumes. Spectral differencing techniques have enhanced five localized dust plumes from the general haze in images acquired near midday, which we determine to be dust devils. Processing of 440 nm images highlights dust devils as distinct occultation features against the horizon. The dust devils are interpreted to be 14–79 m wide, 46–350 m tall, travel at 0.5–4.6 m/s, with dust loading of 7E‐5 kg m‐3, relative to the general haze of 9E‐8 kg m‐3, and total particulate transport of 2.2–700 kg. The vortices match predictions from terrestrial analog studies.