Tag Archives: dust

MARCI weather report, October 9-15, 2017

The dominant weather feature last week was the aphelion equatorial condensate (water-ice) cloud belt. Predominately a northern hemisphere feature, it does extend a distance into the southern tropics. In addition, orographic condensate clouds were observed over all the major shield … Continue reading

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MARCI weather report, September 18-24, 2017

Dust-lifting activity was sparse this past week on Mars. In the first half of the week, small dust storm fronts and hazes were spotted over northern Acidalia — near the seasonal north polar ice cap edge. Looking further south, equatorial … Continue reading

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MARCI weather report, September 11-17, 2017

Weather conditions were relatively unchanged from last week. Tiny transient dust storms were spotted northwest of Elysium Mons and southwest of Syrtis near the middle of the week. During that time, frontal dust storms streamed off the seasonal cap over … Continue reading

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Dust devils: major source of atmospheric dust on Mars and Earth

Swirling columns of sand and dust, known as dust devils, are a feature of desert areas on Mars and on Earth. Now, a study of terrestrial dust devils has shown that around two thirds of the fine particles lifted by … Continue reading

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MARCI weather report, September 4-10, 2017

During the past week, the seasonal north polar cap edge had retreated to about 67 degrees north latitude. Water vapor released from the north polar cap was transported southward by the general circulation to the northern tropics, where it formed … Continue reading

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MARCI weather report, Aug 28-Sept 3, 2017

There continued to be sporadic dust storm activity over many regions of Mars this past week. The seasonal north polar ice cap had retreated to ~70°N latitude. Moving our attention to the southern hemisphere, small short-lived dust storms were spotted … Continue reading

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MARCI weather report, August 21-27, 2017

Apart from some dust-lifting north of Tempe Terra, martian dust activity was at a relative minimum across much of the northern lowlands this past week. Looking to the mid-to-low latitudes, local-scale dust storms were observed north of Argyre and northwest … Continue reading

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Does Mars’ bow shock location correlate with atmospheric dust?

A Lancaster University [UK] physicist has led an international study, based on data from ESA’s Mars Express orbiter, which throws new light on the interaction between the planet Mars and supersonic particles in the solar wind. As the energetic particles … Continue reading

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MARCI weather report, August 14-20, 2017

Dust storms along the seasonal receding north polar cap edge from the previous week had abated early in the week, leaving a diffuse dust cloud that was transported east towards towards the end of the week. During that time, transient … Continue reading

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MARCI weather report, August 7-13, 2017

Last week on Mars, a large dust storm swept over northern Acidalia during the first couple of sols. This dust storm quickly subsided and became a diffuse dust cloud north of Arabia. Towards the end of the week, subsequent dust … Continue reading

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