Tracking dust devils on Mars

Map showing active dust devils during local spring and summer in Mars’s northern hemisphere (black and dark grey-blue dots and arrows respectively) and during spring and summer in the southern hemisphere (light grey and pink dots and arrows respectively).

The coloured dots indicate 1039 dust devils for which we have only location information, and the arrows indicate 373 dust devils for which we also have speed and direction of motion information.

The dust devils were found in 20 years’ worth of images from European Mars orbiters. The arrows show their direction of travel.

Though our two Mars orbiters could not possibly capture all the dust devils travelling across Mars’s surface (there are estimates that there may be one per square kilometre per day, and they last just minutes to hours), this first-ever catalogue of the motions for dust devils all over Mars means that statistical studies can be done to better understand wind close to the surface of Mars, and models of the martian climate can already be improved.

The white squares show the locations of Mars rovers and landers. Dust can be bad for rovers if it accumulates on their solar panels, reducing their energy output unless the panels can be wiped clear.

The locations and speeds of the dust devils revealed a lot about where and when dust is lifted into and moved around Mars’s atmosphere, according to new research published in Science Advances.

Read more in our dedicated article

[Image description: A map of Mars displays coloured arrows and dots scattered across the planet’s surface, representing the locations of 1039 dust devils and the directions of movement of 373. The arrows show how these tornado-like whirlwinds travel, with colors indicating different Martian seasons. The background is a faded image of Mars, and several white squares mark the landing sites of Mars rovers and landers.]