Simulation of the Martian dust aerosol at low wind speeds

doi:doi:10.1029/2001JE001807

Abstract

Cited By (2)

Abstract

Simulation of the Martian dust aerosol at low wind speeds

J. P. Merrison

Institute for Storage Ring Facilities, Aarhus University, Denmark

P. Bertelsen

Ørsted Laboratory, Niels Bohr Institute for Astronomy, Physics and Geophysics, Copenhagen, Denmark

C. Frandsen

Ørsted Laboratory, Niels Bohr Institute for Astronomy, Physics and Geophysics, Copenhagen, Denmark

P. Gunnlaugsson

Institute for Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, Denmark

J. M. Knudsen

Ørsted Laboratory, Niels Bohr Institute for Astronomy, Physics and Geophysics, Copenhagen, Denmark

S. Lunt

Institute for Storage Ring Facilities, Aarhus University, Denmark

M. B. Madsen

Ørsted Laboratory, Niels Bohr Institute for Astronomy, Physics and Geophysics, Copenhagen, Denmark

L. A. Mossin

Department of Earth Sciences, Aarhus University, Denmark

J. Nielsen

Institute for Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, Denmark

P. Nørnberg

Department of Earth Sciences, Aarhus University, Denmark

K. R. Rasmussen

Department of Earth Sciences, Aarhus University, Denmark

E. Uggerhøj

Institute for Storage Ring Facilities, Aarhus University, Denmark

Performing realistic simulations is crucial for developing, testing, and subsequently analyzing results of experiments sent to the surface of Mars. A wind tunnel has been constructed, in which the atmospheric conditions of pressure and wind speed are controlled to match those observed by the Pathfinder mission to Mars. Injection into the wind tunnel of an analogue dust from Salten Skov in Denmark allows simulation of the Martian aerosol. Here experiments can be tested in preparation for a planned mission to the planet (Mars Exploration Rovers to be launched in 2003). Observations of adhesion and cohesion effects have been made in the wind tunnel, which are relevant to particle transport and of significance for validating the performance of specific experiments on Mars. Preliminary studies have been made, at Mars atmospheric pressure, of dust capture on magnet arrays similar to those flown on the Mars Pathfinder mission.

Published 19 December 2002.

Citation: Merrison, J. P., et al. (2002), Simulation of the Martian dust aerosol at low wind speeds, J. Geophys. Res., 107(E12), 5133, doi:10.1029/2001JE001807.

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