Convective vortices and dust devils at the Phoenix Mars mission landing site

被引:117
作者
Ellehoj, M. D. [1 ]
Gunnlaugsson, H. P. [2 ]
Taylor, P. A. [6 ]
Kahanpaa, H. [7 ]
Bean, K. M. [3 ]
Cantor, B. A. [4 ]
Gheynani, B. T. [6 ]
Drube, L. [1 ]
Fisher, D. [5 ]
Harri, A. -M. [7 ]
Holstein-Rathlou, C. [2 ]
Lemmon, M. T. [3 ]
Madsen, M. B. [1 ]
Malin, M. C. [4 ]
Polkko, J. [7 ]
Smith, P. H. [8 ]
Tamppari, L. K. [9 ]
Weng, W. [6 ]
Whiteway, J. [6 ]
机构
[1] Univ Copenhagen, Niels Bohr Inst, DK-1165 Copenhagen, Denmark
[2] Univ Aarhus, Inst Phys & Astron, DK-8000 Aarhus, Denmark
[3] Texas A&M Univ, Dept Atmospher Sci, College Stn, TX 77843 USA
[4] Malin Space Sci Syst Inc, San Diego, CA 92191 USA
[5] Geol Survey Canada, Ottawa, ON K1A 0E4, Canada
[6] York Univ, Ctr Res Earth & Space Sci, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada
[7] Finnish Meteorol Inst, FIN-00101 Helsinki, Finland
[8] Univ Arizona, Lunar & Planetary Lab, Tucson, AZ 85719 USA
[9] CALTECH, Jet Prop Lab, Pasadena, CA 91125 USA
关键词
ORBITER CAMERA; COLOR-IMAGER; PATHFINDER; SIMULATIONS; THRESHOLD; WEATHER; CLIMATE; CLOUDS;
D O I
10.1029/2009JE003413
中图分类号
P3 [地球物理学]; P59 [地球化学];
学科分类号
0708 ; 070902 ;
摘要
The Phoenix Mars Lander detected a larger number of short (similar to 20 s) pressure drops that probably indicate the passage of convective vortices or dust devils. Near-continuous pressure measurements have allowed for monitoring the frequency of these events, and data from other instruments and orbiting spacecraft give information on how these pressure events relate to the seasons and weather phenomena at the Phoenix landing site. Here 502 vortices were identified with a pressure drop larger than 0.3 Pa occurring in the 151 sol mission (L-s 76 to 148). The diurnal distributions show a peak in convective vortices around noon, agreeing with current theory and previous observations. The few events detected at night might have been mechanically forced by turbulent eddies caused by the nearby Heimdal crater. A general increase with major peaks in the convective vortex activity occurs during the mission, around L-s = 111. This correlates with changes in midsol surface heat flux, increasing wind speeds at the landing site, and increases in vortex density. Comparisons with orbiter imaging show that in contrast to the lower latitudes on Mars, the dust devil activity at the Phoenix landing site is influenced more by active weather events passing by the area than by local forcing.
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页数:18
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