Physics
Scientific paper
Apr 2003
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2003eaeja.....7483k&link_type=abstract
EGS - AGU - EUG Joint Assembly, Abstracts from the meeting held in Nice, France, 6 - 11 April 2003, abstract #7483
Physics
Scientific paper
Due to the prevalence of Martian dust devils and dust storms, an understanding of the underlying physics of electrical discharges in Martian dust is critical to future Mars exploratory missions. When dust particles come into contact, charge can be transferred between the grains. Wind-driven dust studies (Stow, 1969) show that in the case of particles with identical compositions, the particle with the larger radius in a collision preferentially becomes positively charged. The stratification of particle sizes generated by upwinds within a dust cloud causes an electric dipole to form. When the electric potential within the cloud exceeds the breakdown voltage of the surrounding atmosphere, a discharge occurs. Mars' low atmospheric pressure and arid, windy environment suggest that the dust near the surface of Mars is more susceptible to triboelectric charging than terrestrial dust. Electrical discharges on Mars should occur more frequently but at lower intensities than those seen on Earth. We have conducted laboratory experiments to examine the creation of discharges due to vertical charge separation in a simulated Martian environment. The range of pressures and the amount of mass loading required to produce these discharges have been examined. We have also investigated the effects of regolith particle size distribution on the discharges. Measurements done in our lab on the charging of single dust grains show that particles of JSC-Mars-1, a Martian regolith simulant, can have large electrical potentials due to triboelectric charging (Sickafooseet al., 2001). When JSC-Mars-1 is vertically dropped through a low-pressure CO_2 atmosphere, electrical discharges are both visually and electronically detected. Measurements of the frequency and intensity of these discharges show that they can occur under conditions expected on the Martian surface. This work is supported by NASA Space Science GSRP, NGT5-50345.
Horanyi Mihaly
Krauss Cristen
Robertson Scott
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