Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 2005
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2005agufm.p13b0147n&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2005, abstract #P13B-0147
Physics
3329 Mesoscale Meteorology, 3346 Planetary Meteorology (5445, 5739), 5405 Atmospheres (0343, 1060), 6225 Mars
Scientific paper
Experiments using the Arizona State University Vortex Generator (ASUVG) investigated the physics of sediment lifted in dust devils. With the use of the Mars Surface Wind Tunnel (MARSWIT) at Ames Research Center, laboratory-sized dust devils were studied under both terrestrial and martian conditions with the ASUVG. Vortex sediment flux was investigated by measuring mass loss as a function of time for different sized vortices and a selection of different types of sediment from dust to sand spanning 2 to 1500 μm. Vortex core pressure drops range from ~0.01 to 1.0% of ambient pressure for both terrestrial and martian conditions. Pressure drops measured previously at the Mars Pathfinder site suggest that martian dust devils also exhibit characteristic drops of ~0.2-1.0% of ambient pressure, which is very similar to previously published data for terrestrial field studies. Recent observations made by the Mars Exploration Rover, Spirit, allowed calculation of dust content and estimations of sediment flux in over 250 dust devils in Gusev Crater on Mars. Sediment fluxes for lab conditions are similar to those for field conditions despite large differences in the sizes of the vortices suggesting that the core pressure drop is controlling the dust devil's ability to lift material. These core pressures also seem to be constrained to maximum drops of ~1.0% of ambient pressure in the natural case potentially limiting the maximum amount of material that can be lifted. Sediment fluxes are expressed as mass per unit area per time (kg/m2/s) taking the size of the vortex into consideration - thus fluxes from smaller dust devils tend to be higher than larger ones due to the limits imposed by the maximum pressure drop of ~1.0% ambient conditions.
Eddlemon Eric E.
Foley Daniel J.
Greeley Ronald
Iversen James D.
Landis Geoffrey A.
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