What processes are responsible for dust storms on Mars? This is what a study presented today at the American Geophysical Union 2024 Fall Meeting hopes to address as a pair of researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder) investigated the causes behind the massive dust storms on Mars, which periodically grow large enough to engulf the entire planet. This study holds the potential to help researchers predict dust storms on Mars, which could help current and future robotic missions survive these calamities, along with future human crews to the Red Planet.
“Dust storms have a significant effect on rovers and landers on Mars, not to mention what will happen during future crewed missions to Mars,” said Heshani Pieris, who is a PhD Candidate in planetary science at CU Boulder and lead author of the study. “This dust is very light and sticks to everything.”
For the study, the researchers examined 15 (Earth) years of data obtained from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) to ascertain the processes responsible for kickstarting dust storms. After analyzing countless datasets of Martian surface temperatures, the researchers found that 68 percent of large dust storms on Mars resulted from spikes in surface temperatures during periods of increased sunlight through Mars’ thin atmosphere.
Image of a planetary dust storm on Mars in 2018 captured by the Mars Express orbiter. (Credit: ESA/DLR/FU BERLIN/CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO)
For context, another wind features on Mars are dust devils, which are formed through the heating of the surface, resulting in heat rising and horizontal winds blowing in and creating dust devils. While this recent study stopped short of saying increased surface temperatures are the definite cause of dust storms, it presents a plausible step forward in better understanding these weather patterns.
“When you heat up the surface, the layer of atmosphere right above it becomes buoyant, and it can rise, taking dust with it,” said Pieris.
Going forward, the researchers will continue to gather data on dust storm patterns across Mars with the long-term goal of being able to predict dust storms well in advance.
What new discoveries about Martian dust storms will researchers make in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!
Sources: AGU 2024, ScienceDaily, CU Boulder Today