Abstract
The Emirates Mars Mission (EMM) science phase began in Martian Year 36, solar longitude 49, which is outside of the classical Mars dust storm season. EMM observed a distinct dust cloud at northern mid-to-high latitudes on 10 September 2021 (Martian Year 36, solar longitude 97). The dust cloud is an arc-shaped dust storm, typically observed at the northern polar cap edge. This type of non-season dust storm is a well-known phenomenon, but this particular case is interesting because the dust cloud has frontal structure. A large atmospheric front is unusual in this location and season. Moreover, EMM's unique observational coverage adds value to this observation. EMM provided a sequence of four camera images, which are separated by just 2–3 hr. The dust cloud showed very little motion over 7–8 hr, that is, it is quasi-stationary. We discuss relevant dynamical processes, supported by a consistency check with the Mars Climate Database.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e2022GL099528 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Geophysical Research Letters |
| Volume | 49 |
| Issue number | 20 |
| Early online date | 18 Oct 2022 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 28 Oct 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Funding for the development of the EMM mission was provided by the United Arab Emirates Government, and to co‐authors outside of the United Arab Emirates by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre. This work was also supported by a joint research agreement between the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre and the National Space Science and Technology Center in the United Arab Emirates University. CG, BKG, and RMBY were supported by the United Arab Emirates University Grant “Mars and Earth atmospheric science research at the National Space Science and Technology Center,” G00003407. RMBY was also supported by UAE University grant G00003322.
Data Availability Statement
The basis of this study are level2A images from the EMM camera EXI on 10 September 2021. All these images are publicly available from the EMM Science Data Center (https://sdc.emiratesmarsmission.ae/). The file names of the corresponding 635 nm monochromatic images include “emm_exi_l2a_20210910T035927_0105_xos1_f635,” “emm_exi_l2a_20210910T063453_0105_xos1_f635,” “emm_exi_l2a_20210910T083439_0105_xos1_f635,” “emm_exi_l2a_20210910T114409_0105_xos1_f635,” and “emm_exi_l2a_20210910T133711_0105_xos1_f635.” Their 546 nm, 437 nm, and 320 nm counterparts are just seconds apart. Data product filenames follow a standard convention: emm_<Instrument>_<DataLevel><StartTimeUTC>_<OrbitNumber>_<Mode>_<Description>_<KernelLevel>_<Version>.<FileType>.Keywords
- Dust storm
- Dynamics
- Emirates Mars mission
- Front
- Polar cap
- Wind
Access to Document
- Gebhardt_etal_GPL_A_Frontal_Dust_VOR
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