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Latitudinal dependency in dust devil activity on Mars
The School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
The School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
There are more dust devils (dd; inferred from dust devil tracks, or ddt) in the southern hemisphere than in the north. Ddt suggest that the dd season starts in late spring (Ls = 60° and 240°, northern and southern hemispheres, respectively) and continues through the summer into mid fall (Ls = 210° and 30°, northern and southern hemispheres, respectively). However, the ddt density in the southern hemisphere averages ∼0.6 ddt/km2, while the northern hemisphere averages ∼0.06 ddt/km2, or an order of magnitude less. This is attributed to the observation that in southern summer the surface receives 40% more solar energy for atmospheric motion and dd formation than the surface in the northern summer, due to the eccentricity of Mars' orbit.
Received 19 January 2006; accepted 17 May 2006; published 14 October 2006.
Citation: (2006), Latitudinal dependency in dust devil activity on Mars, J. Geophys. Res., 111, E10003, doi:10.1029/2006JE002677.
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