Greenhouse and thermophoretic effects in dust layers: The missing link for lifting of dust on Mars

Details Greenhouse and thermophoretic effects in dust layers: The missing link for lifting of dust on Mars Greenhouse and thermophoretic effects in dust layers: The missing link for lifting of dust on Mars

May 2008

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008georl..3510201w&link_type=abstract

Geophysical Research Letters, Volume 35, Issue 10, CiteID L10201

Physics

8

Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects: Mars, Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets: Erosion And Weathering, Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets: Surface Materials And Properties, Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets: Heat Flow, Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets: Atmospheres (0343, 1060)

Scientific paper

Dust is abundant in the Martian atmosphere and is continuously replenished by the entrainment of material from the surface of the planet. We find that the simple illumination of a dust bed at low atmospheric pressure provides a mechanism that efficiently lifts dust particles into the atmosphere. This lifting process is caused by two subtle effects within the dust bed: a greenhouse effect and thermophoresis. Laboratory and microgravity experiments show that the light flux needed for lift to occur is in the same range as that of the solar insolation available on Mars. This mechanism significantly lowers the threshold for dust entrainment by wind stress and may help explain the large amount of suspended dust on Mars overall. Specifically, this lifting process may help provide the initial lift necessary for dust devils and help trigger larger dust storms.

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