Mars is capable of churning out some gnarly dust storms. Sometimes, these storms go global, turning the red planet into a dusty version of a snow globe. Scientists are trying to determine what causes the massive dust storms so future Mars weathercasters can predict these extreme events. This becomes especially important as humanity looks forward to visiting Mars in person. A new study suggests there may be a connection between global dust storms and warm, sunny days.
Dust storms have an impact on humanity’s efforts to explore Mars. NASA’s Opportunity rover landed on Mars in 2004. The solar-powered explorer met its demise in 2018 when a massive dust storm enveloped the red planet and choked out the rover’s energy supply. NASA’s current Mars rovers Curiosity and Perseverance don’t rely on solar. Perseverance weathered a smaller dust storm in September that put a damper on its sightseeing activities.
Humans and Mars dust storms
It’s not just solar-powered machines that have to worry about dust storms. Future human explorers will have to weather the dusty elements as well. “This dust is very light and sticks to everything,” said Heshani Pieris, a University of Colorado Boulder graduate student and lead author of the study titled “Investigating Thermal Precursors of Martian Dust Storms and their Connection to Storm Initiation.”
The researchers studied data from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, a spacecraft that’s been in residence at the red planet since 2006. MRO has witnessed dust storms of all sizes as part of its work in observing the climate and geology of Mars. MRO is known for its stunning photos of the Martian surface, including views of scenic “Zen gardens” and a woodpecker-shaped formation in a crater.
Understanding Mars dust storms
MRO carries the Mars Climate Sounder, an instrument that collects data on temperature, pressure, humidity and dust content in the Martian atmosphere. “The atmospheric profiles that are produced help scientists predict Martian weather and climate over time,” NASA said in an explainer.
The data in the study covered 15 Earth years. The team looked for particularly warm periods and found about 68% of major dust storms were preceded by a sharp temperature rise on the red planet’s surface. The storms didn’t form immediately, but occurred a few weeks after the temperature spikes. “It’s almost like Mars has to wait for the air to get clear enough to form a major dust storm,” said study co-author Paul Hayne, a planetary scientist and associate professor at CU Boulder.
The researchers are still probing the connection between balmy conditions and massive dust storms. “This study is not the end all be all of predicting storms on Mars,” said Pieris. “But we hope it’s a step in the right direction.” The team is collecting more observations and hopes to take real-time data from Mars someday and use it to make predictions, much like weather forecasters do on Earth.
It could be years before humans reach Mars, but we’ll want to have a better understanding of what’s going on with the weather there and how it could impact explorers and their gear. “Even though the wind pressure may not be enough to knock over equipment, these dust grains can build up a lot of speed and pelt astronauts and their equipment,” said Hayne. Imagine having the Mars equivalent of a tornado siren that warns astronauts to take shelter. In the case of a global dust storm, that could mean hunkering down for quite some time. The storm that took out the Opportunity rover in 2018 lasted for weeks.
