Electric and magnetic signatures of dust devils from the 2000

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Read Full Article (file size: 739350 bytes) Cited by JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 109, E03004, doi:10.1029/2003JE002088, 2004 Electric and magnetic signatures of dust devils from the 2000–2001 MATADOR desert tests W. M. Farrell NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA P. H. Smith Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA G. T. Delory Space Science Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA G. B. Hillard NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio, USA J. R. Marshall SETI Institute, Mountain View, California, USA D. Catling Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA M. Hecht Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, USA D. M. Tratt Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, USA NASA Earth Science Technology Office, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA N. Renno Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA M. D. Desch NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA S. A. Cummer Department of Computer and Electrical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA J. G. Houser NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA B. Johnson NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio, USA Abstract Dust devils are significant meteorological phenomena on Mars: They are ubiquitous, continually gardening the Martian surface, and may be the primary atmospheric dust-loading mechanism in nonstorm seasons. Further, dust grains in the swirling dust devils may become electrically charged via triboelectric effects. Electrical effects associated with terrestrial dust devils have been reported previously, but these were isolated measurements (electric fields only) with no corroborating measurements. To study the fluid and electrical forces associated with dust devils, NASA's Human Exploration and Development of Space (HEDS) enterprise sponsored a set of desert field tests with a suite of mutually compatible and complementary instruments in order to determine the relationship between electric, magnetic, and fluid forces. The project (originally a selected flight project) was entitled “Martian ATmosphere And Dust in the Optical and Radio” (MATADOR). In this work, we present a number of interesting examples of the electromagnetic nature of the dust devil. We also describe potential hazards of the dust devil and how similar devil- and storm-related forces on Mars might affect any human occupation. Received 18 March 2003; accepted 28 October 2003; published 5 March 2004. Index Terms: 6225 Planetology: Solar System Objects: Mars; 3304 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Atmospheric electricity; 3379 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Turbulence; 3394 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Instruments and techniques; 0305 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Aerosols and particles (0345, 4801). Read Full Article (file size: 739350 bytes) Cited by Citation: Farrell, W. M., et al. (2004), Electric and magnetic signatures of dust devils from the 2000–2001 MATADOR desert tests, J. Geophys. Res., 109, E03004, doi:10.1029/2003JE002088. Copyright 2004 by the American Geophysical Union.

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