Dust Devil Frequency of Occurrence and Radiative Effects at Jezero Crater, Mars, as Measured by MEDA Radiation and Dust Sensor (RDS)

Autor: D. Toledo, V. Apéstigue, I. Arruego, M. Lemmon, L. Gómez, F. Montoro, R. Hueso, C. Newman, M. Smith, D. Viudez‐Moreiras, G. Martínez, R. Lorenz, A. Vicente‐Retortillo, A. Sanchez‐Lavega, M. de la Torre Juarez, J. A. Rodriguez‐Manfredi, I. Carrasco, M. Yela, J. J. Jimenez, E. García‐Menendez, S. Navarro, F. J. Gomez‐Elvira, A.‐M. Harri, J. Polkko, M. Hieta, M. Genzer, N. Murdoch, E. Sebastian
Přispěvatelé: Institut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace - ISAE-SUPAERO (FRANCE), Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI), Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN), Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO), NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Gobierno Vasco
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2023
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.
ISSN: 2169-9097
Popis: Key Points A dust devil frequency of occurrence of between 1.3 and 3.4 dust devils km−2 sol−1 was derived from MEDA-RDS observations for the first 365 sols, displaying the maximum activity at around noon and increasing as we move from spring into summer We find an average dust devil diameter of 29 m (or a median diameter of 25 m) and maximum and minimum diameters of 132 ± 63.4 m and 5.6 ± 5.5 m Dust devil migration directions are in agreement with the MEDA background wind direction measurements The Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer, onboard the Perseverance rover, is a meteorological station that is operating on Mars and includes, among other sensors, the radiometer Radiation and Dust Sensor (RDS). From RDS irradiance observations, a total of 374 dust devils (DDs) were detected for the first 365 sols of the mission (Ls = 6°–182°), which along with wind and pressure measurements, we estimated a DD frequency of formation at Jezero between 1.3 and 3.4 DD km−2 sol−1 (increasing as we move from spring into summer). This frequency is found to be smaller than that estimated at the Spirit or Pathfinder landing sites but much greater than that derived at InSight landing site. The maximum in DD frequency occurs between 12:00 and 13:00 local true solar time, which is when the convective heat flux and lower planetary boundary layer IR heating are both predicted to peak in Jezero crater. DD diameter, minimum height, and trajectory were studied showing (a) an average diameter of 29 m (or a median of 25 m) and a maximum and minimum diameter of 132 ± 63.4 and 5.6 ± 5.5 m; (b) an average minimum DD height of 231 m and a maximum minimum-height of 872 m; and (c) the DD migration direction is in agreement with wind measurements. For all the cases, DDs decreased the UV irradiance, while at visible or near-IR wavelengths both increases and decreases were observed. Contrary to the frequency of formation, these results indicate similar DD characteristics in average for the studied period. This work has been funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, through the projects no. ESP2014-54256-C4-1-R (also -2-R, -3-R and -4-R); Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, projects no. ESP2016-79612-C3-1-R (also -2-R and -3-R); Ministry of Science and Innovation/State Agency of Research (10.13039/501100011033), projects no. ESP2016-80320-C2-1-R, RTI2018-098728-B-C31 (also -C32 and -C33), RTI2018-099825-B-C31. RH and ASL were supported by the Spanish project PID2019-109467GB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/50110001103 and by Grupos Gobierno Vasco IT1742-22. The US co-authors performed their work under sponsorship from NASA’s Mars 2020 project, from the Game Changing Development programme within the Space Technology Mission Directorate and from the Human Exploration and Operations Directorate. Part of this research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (80NM0018D0004). G.M. acknowledges JPL funding from USRA Contract Number 1638782. ML is supported by contract 15-712 from Arizona State University and 1607215 from Caltech-JPL. Peerreview
Databáze: OpenAIRE