Martian Dust Devil Tracks: Albedos, Lifetimes, and Dust Deposition Rates

Dust devil tracks (DDTs) are the traces across the surface left behind by the passage of dust devils (atmospheric vortices carrying dust). Although not all dust devils leave behind tracks, (on average as low as only ~14% of them do), and DDTs themselves fade on timescales of months, DDTs can still provide a method of studying the occurrence of this atmospheric phenomenon over time and space, as the tracks remain visible orders of magnitude longer than the dust devils themselves.

Here , we are producing quantitative measurements of the relative and absolute albedos, fading rates, and lifetimes of dust devils tracks around Mars; estimates of the dust cover thickness will yield the overall dust deposition rate over time in multiple locations around Mars, leading to a better understanding of the contribution of dust devils to global dust entrainment and improving predictions for solar panel clearing events on landed assets (e.g., Lorenz and Reiss, 2015).