Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Dust Storm Activity in Chryse Planitia Using MGS-MOC Observations from Mars Years 24–28
Dust storms, observed in all seasons, are among the most momentous of Mars’ atmospheric activities. The Entry–Descent–Landing (EDL) activity of a Martian landing mission is influenced by local atmospheric conditions, especially the probability of dust storm activity. Chryse Planitia, featuring many...
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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2218-1997/7/11/433/ 2023-08-20T04:07:10+02:00 Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Dust Storm Activity in Chryse Planitia Using MGS-MOC Observations from Mars Years 24–28 Bo Li Zongyu Yue Shaojie Qu Peiwen Yao Xiaohui Fu Zongcheng Ling Shengbo Chen 2021-11-12 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/universe7110433 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Planetary Sciences https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/universe7110433 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Universe; Volume 7; Issue 11; Pages: 433 Chryse Planitia dust storm activity EOF analysis spatio-temporal analysis Mars landing missions Text 2021 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/universe7110433 2023-08-01T03:14:10Z Dust storms, observed in all seasons, are among the most momentous of Mars’ atmospheric activities. The Entry–Descent–Landing (EDL) activity of a Martian landing mission is influenced by local atmospheric conditions, especially the probability of dust storm activity. Chryse Planitia, featuring many of the largest and most prominent outflow channels and possible mud volcanoes, is an important target site for current and future Mars landing missions. It is of great significance to understand that a Mars landing probe may encounter a dust storm situation during EDL season in the Chryse Planitia. In this study, based on four Martian years, Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) Mars Daily Global Maps (MDGMs), 1172 dust storms were identified within Chryse’s 1600 km-radius ring. Secondly, the daily mean dust storm probability was calculated, binned by 1° of solar longitude in the Chryse landing area. The two active periods of dust storm activity are Ls = 177–239° and Ls = 288–4°, with an average daily mean dust storm probability of 9.5% and 4.1%. Dust storm activity frequency is closely interrelated with the seasonal ebb and flow of the north polar ice cap; consequently, most dust storms occur in either the cap’s growth or recession phase. We divided the Chryse landing area into square grids of 0.5° and computed the average probability of dust storm occurrence in each grid, which ranged from 0.19% to 2.42%, with an average of 1.22%. The dust storm activity probability in space was also inhomogeneous—low in the west and south but high in the east and north—which was mainly affected by the origin and the path of dust storm sequences. Based on empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis of storms in the Chryse area, 40.5% are cap-edge storms in the northern hemisphere. Finally, we concluded that the preferred time of a Mars landing mission is Ls = 18–65° in the Chryse Planitia, and three preferred landing areas were selected with low dust storm probability. Text Ice cap MDPI Open Access Publishing Universe 7 11 433 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
MDPI Open Access Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftmdpi |
language |
English |
topic |
Chryse Planitia dust storm activity EOF analysis spatio-temporal analysis Mars landing missions |
spellingShingle |
Chryse Planitia dust storm activity EOF analysis spatio-temporal analysis Mars landing missions Bo Li Zongyu Yue Shaojie Qu Peiwen Yao Xiaohui Fu Zongcheng Ling Shengbo Chen Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Dust Storm Activity in Chryse Planitia Using MGS-MOC Observations from Mars Years 24–28 |
topic_facet |
Chryse Planitia dust storm activity EOF analysis spatio-temporal analysis Mars landing missions |
description |
Dust storms, observed in all seasons, are among the most momentous of Mars’ atmospheric activities. The Entry–Descent–Landing (EDL) activity of a Martian landing mission is influenced by local atmospheric conditions, especially the probability of dust storm activity. Chryse Planitia, featuring many of the largest and most prominent outflow channels and possible mud volcanoes, is an important target site for current and future Mars landing missions. It is of great significance to understand that a Mars landing probe may encounter a dust storm situation during EDL season in the Chryse Planitia. In this study, based on four Martian years, Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) Mars Daily Global Maps (MDGMs), 1172 dust storms were identified within Chryse’s 1600 km-radius ring. Secondly, the daily mean dust storm probability was calculated, binned by 1° of solar longitude in the Chryse landing area. The two active periods of dust storm activity are Ls = 177–239° and Ls = 288–4°, with an average daily mean dust storm probability of 9.5% and 4.1%. Dust storm activity frequency is closely interrelated with the seasonal ebb and flow of the north polar ice cap; consequently, most dust storms occur in either the cap’s growth or recession phase. We divided the Chryse landing area into square grids of 0.5° and computed the average probability of dust storm occurrence in each grid, which ranged from 0.19% to 2.42%, with an average of 1.22%. The dust storm activity probability in space was also inhomogeneous—low in the west and south but high in the east and north—which was mainly affected by the origin and the path of dust storm sequences. Based on empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis of storms in the Chryse area, 40.5% are cap-edge storms in the northern hemisphere. Finally, we concluded that the preferred time of a Mars landing mission is Ls = 18–65° in the Chryse Planitia, and three preferred landing areas were selected with low dust storm probability. |
format |
Text |
author |
Bo Li Zongyu Yue Shaojie Qu Peiwen Yao Xiaohui Fu Zongcheng Ling Shengbo Chen |
author_facet |
Bo Li Zongyu Yue Shaojie Qu Peiwen Yao Xiaohui Fu Zongcheng Ling Shengbo Chen |
author_sort |
Bo Li |
title |
Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Dust Storm Activity in Chryse Planitia Using MGS-MOC Observations from Mars Years 24–28 |
title_short |
Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Dust Storm Activity in Chryse Planitia Using MGS-MOC Observations from Mars Years 24–28 |
title_full |
Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Dust Storm Activity in Chryse Planitia Using MGS-MOC Observations from Mars Years 24–28 |
title_fullStr |
Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Dust Storm Activity in Chryse Planitia Using MGS-MOC Observations from Mars Years 24–28 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Dust Storm Activity in Chryse Planitia Using MGS-MOC Observations from Mars Years 24–28 |
title_sort |
spatio-temporal analysis of dust storm activity in chryse planitia using mgs-moc observations from mars years 24–28 |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/universe7110433 |
genre |
Ice cap |
genre_facet |
Ice cap |
op_source |
Universe; Volume 7; Issue 11; Pages: 433 |
op_relation |
Planetary Sciences https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/universe7110433 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/universe7110433 |
container_title |
Universe |
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7 |
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11 |
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433 |
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