Gusev Crater, Mars: Observations of three dust devil seasons

  1. Ronald Greeley1,
  2. Devin A. Waller1,
  3. Nathalie A. Cabrol2,
  4. Geoffrey A. Landis3,
  5. Mark T. Lemmon4,
  6. Lynn D. V. Neakrase1,5,
  7. Mary Pendleton Hoffer1,
  8. Shane D. Thompson1,
  9. Patrick L. Whelley1,6

Article first published online: 30 SEP 2010

DOI: 10.1029/2010JE003608

Issue

Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets (1991–2012)

Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets (1991–2012)

Additional Information

How to Cite

Greeley, R., D. A. Waller, N. A. Cabrol, G. A. Landis, M. T. Lemmon, L. D. V. Neakrase, M. Pendleton Hoffer, S. D. Thompson, and P. L. Whelley (2010), Gusev Crater, Mars: Observations of three dust devil seasons, J. Geophys. Res., 115, E00F02, doi:10.1029/2010JE003608.

Author Information

  1. 1

    School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA

  2. 2

    NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, USA

  3. 3

    NASA John Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

  4. 4

    Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA

  5. 5

    Now at Department of Astronomy, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA.

  6. 6

    Now at Department of Geology, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, USA.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 30 SEP 2010
  2. Article first published online: 30 SEP 2010
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 10 JUN 2010
  4. Manuscript Revised: 27 MAY 2010
  5. Manuscript Received: 26 MAR 2010

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Keywords:

  • Mars;
  • Gusev;
  • dust devil

[1] Spirit began operations in Gusev Crater in January 2004 and has returned data on three seasons of dust devil (DD) activity. Total DDs observed were 533 in season one, 101 in season two, and 127 in season three. Their general characteristics are the same within factors of 2 among the seasons, with median diameters of 19 m in season one, 24 m in season two, and 39 m in season three, and dust flux values for individual vortices ranging from 4.0 × 10−9 to 4.6 × 10−4 kg m−2 s−1 in season one, 5.2 × 10−7 to 6.2 × 10−5 kg m−2 s−1 in season two, and 1.5 × 10−7 to 1.6 × 10−4 kg m−2 s−1 in season three. All three seasons were initiated with the onset of southern Martian spring within 14 sols of the same Ls (181°) and their frequency increased to the period corresponding to late southern spring. The occurrences decreased monotonically in seasons one and three but apparently ended abruptly in season two when a large dust storm occurred; although the dusty atmosphere might have precluded the detection of active DDs, the abrupt cessation could result from conditions such as thermal stability of the atmosphere due to the presence of dust which could halt DD formation. Dust devils can contribute significant quantities of dust to the atmosphere, although it is unclear as to whether this dust stays locally or is injected into higher-altitude winds and is distributed elsewhere. In the three DD seasons observed through Spirit, DDs in Gusev Crater injected a minimum average of ∼18 × 106 kg of material into the atmosphere each season.

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