MarsWRF Convective Vortex and Dust Devil Predictions for Gale Crater Over 3 Mars Years and Comparison With MSL‐REMS Observations

Newman, Claire; Kahanpää, Henrik; Richardson, M. I.; Martínez, G.; Vicente‐Retortillo, Á.; Lemmon, M. T.

doi:10.1029/2019je006082

Cited by 48 publications

(102 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…They furthermore suggested that the frequency of cleaning events (once every few hundred sols) was consistent with encounters of vortices with pressure drops larger than some value in the range 6–40 Pa. Vicente‐Retortillo et al (2018) studied dust correction factors on the ultraviolet flux sensors on the Curiosity rover and found that at that site (Gale crater, 4.6°S, not far from InSight) dust removal by convective vortices and nighttime winds tended to occur around perihelion, until L s ~ 300°, while dust tended to accumulate until the end of the aphelion season ( L s ~ 180°). The vortex activity at Gale, and its dependence on the meteorological setting, has recently been documented by Newman et al (2019).…”

Section: Short‐term Solar Flux Variationsmentioning

confidence: 86%

Scientific Observations With the InSight Solar Arrays: Dust, Clouds, and Eclipses on Mars

Lorenz

Lemmon

Maki

et al. 2020

Earth and Space Science

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Records of solar array currents recorded by the InSight lander during its first 200 sols on Mars are presented. In addition to the geometric variation in illumination on seasonal and diurnal timescales, the data are influenced by dust suspended in the atmosphere and deposited on the solar panels. Although no dust devils have been detected by InSight's cameras, brief excursions in solar array currents suggest that at least some of the vortices detected by transient pressure drops are accompanied by dust. A step increase in array output (i.e., a "cleaning event") was observed to be directly associated with the passage of a strong vortex. Some quasiperiodic variations in solar array current are suggestive of dust variations in the planetary boundary layer. Nonzero array outputs before sunrise and after sunset are indicative of scattering in the atmosphere: A notable increase in evening twilight currents is observed associated with noctilucent clouds, likely of water or carbon dioxide ice. Finally, although the observations are intermittent (typically a few hours per sol) and at a modest sample rate (one to two samples per minute), three single-sample light dips are seen associated with Phobos eclipses. These results demonstrate that engineering data from solar arrays provide valuable scientific situational awareness of the Martian environment.

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Section: Short‐term Solar Flux Variationsmentioning

confidence: 86%

Scientific Observations With the InSight Solar Arrays: Dust, Clouds, and Eclipses on Mars

Lorenz

Lemmon

Maki

et al. 2020

Earth and Space Science

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“…In local summer, Newman et al. (2019) found that the vortex encounters detected by Curiosity exhibited a double‐peak structure at LTST 10:00–11:00 and 13:00–14:00 (see also simulations by Chapman et al., 2017). This double‐peak structure is not found during the first northern summer season experienced by InSight.…”

Section: Vortex Population and Statisticsmentioning

confidence: 97%

A Study of Daytime Convective Vortices and Turbulence in the Martian Planetary Boundary Layer Based on Half‐a‐Year of InSight Atmospheric Measurements and Large‐Eddy Simulations

et al. 2021

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Studying the atmospheric planetary boundary layer (PBL) is crucial to understand the climate of a planet. The meteorological measurements by the instruments onboard InSight at a latitude of 4.5°N make a unique rich data set to study the active turbulent dynamics of the daytime PBL on Mars. Here we use the high‐sensitivity continuous pressure, wind, and temperature measurements in the first 400 sols of InSight operations (from northern late winter to midsummer) to analyze wind gusts, convective cells, and vortices in Mars’ daytime PBL. We compare InSight measurements to turbulence‐resolving large‐eddy simulations (LES). The daytime PBL turbulence at the InSight landing site is very active, with clearly identified signatures of convective cells and a vast population of 6,000 recorded vortex encounters, adequately represented by a power law with a 3.4 exponent. While the daily variability of vortex encounters at InSight can be explained by the statistical nature of turbulence, the seasonal variability is positively correlated with ambient wind speed, which is supported by LES. However, wind gustiness is positively correlated to surface temperature rather than ambient wind speed and sensible heat flux, confirming the radiative control of the daytime Martian PBL; and fewer convective vortices are forming in LES when the background wind is doubled. Thus, the long‐term seasonal variability of vortex encounters at the InSight landing site is mainly controlled by the advection of convective vortices by ambient wind speed. Typical tracks followed by vortices forming in the LES show a similar distribution in direction and length as orbital imagery.

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“…This causes the daytime wind direction (Figure a) to vary significantly, from −90° (wind blowing from the W) to +120° (wind blowing from the SE), and the mean wind speed to decrease significantly to reach a steady value of about 5 m/s until the decay of the dust storm between Sols 130 and 140 (Ls 8–13°). Convective activity is closely linked to both the wind stress at the surface and the surface‐to‐air temperature difference (e.g., Newman et al, ; Rennó et al, ). Thus, following the decrease of both ambient wind speed and daytime surface temperature, the number of pressure drops caused by convective vortices also decreases during this stage, ranging from 1 to 12 pressure drops per sol. From Sol 130 to Sol 220 (Ls 8–51°), a significant change appears again in the atmospheric activity: The mean wind direction rapidly switched from −40° to +130°, denoting a reversal of the wind direction from “NW to SE” to “SE to NW.” This change in Elysium Planitia was predicted by prelanding climate modeling (Spiga et al, ).…”

Section: Comparison With Insight Meteorological Measurements and Implmentioning

confidence: 99%

Monitoring of Dust Devil Tracks Around the InSight Landing Site, Mars, and Comparison With In Situ Atmospheric Data

Perrin

Rodríguez

Jacob

et al. 2020

Geophysical Research Letters

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The NASA InSight mission on Mars is a unique opportunity to study atmospheric processes both from orbit and in situ observations. We use post-landing high-resolution satellite images to monitor dust devil activity during the first 8 months of the mission. We perform mapping and semiautomatic detection of newly formed dust devil tracks and analyze their characteristics (sizes, azimuths, distances, and directions of motion). We find a large number of tracks appearing shortly after landing, followed by a significant decrease of activity during late winter, then a progressive increase during early spring. New tracks are characterized by dark linear, to slightly curvilinear, traces ranging from a few to more than 10 m wide. Tracks are oriented in the ambient wind direction, according to measurements made by InSight's meteorological sensors. The systematic analysis of dust devil tracks is useful to have a better understanding of atmospheric and aeolian activity around InSight. Plain Language SummaryThe NASA InSight mission landed on Mars in November 2018. It carries weather and seismic stations that are now working continuously. We are also able to observe the InSight region from orbit using high-resolution satellite images that have been acquired regularly over the first year of the InSight mission. They show a lot of dark traces on the surface, which are caused by whirlwinds called dust devils raising dust into the air. This phenomenon is not observed at the same rate over the entire year, as it depends on atmospheric conditions that vary with season. Our study with satellite images allows us to understand the characteristics of dust devil tracks and compare them with related measurements from the weather station on board InSight. These two sets of observations are well correlated to each other and provide significant constraints to better characterize the atmospheric activity around InSight and in the region of Elysium Planitia, Mars.

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MarsWRF Convective Vortex and Dust Devil Predictions for Gale Crater Over 3 Mars Years and Comparison With MSL‐REMS Observations

Cited by 48 publications

References 61 publications

Scientific Observations With the InSight Solar Arrays: Dust, Clouds, and Eclipses on Mars

Scientific Observations With the InSight Solar Arrays: Dust, Clouds, and Eclipses on Mars

A Study of Daytime Convective Vortices and Turbulence in the Martian Planetary Boundary Layer Based on Half‐a‐Year of InSight Atmospheric Measurements and Large‐Eddy Simulations

Monitoring of Dust Devil Tracks Around the InSight Landing Site, Mars, and Comparison With In Situ Atmospheric Data

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