Orals

Mobile dust has a huge impact on the Martian climate. In the thin atmosphere, dust can modify temperatures by several tens of degrees and lead to a massive change in circulation strength, as well as providing condensation nuclei for cloud formation, while surface dust removal and deposition can produce substantial changes in global albedo patterns and (over longer timescales) polar layering. Yet many of the processes responsible for dust being raised from the surface and through the boundary layer, for the interaction of dust with the water and CO2 cycles, and for how dust storms develop and feed back on the circulation, are still not well understood. However, recent years have brought new theories on topics ranging from the thresholds for dust lifting to how dust phenomena operating on different spatio-temporal scales may be connected, and studies of the exceptionally well-observed 2018 global dust storm are sure to spur even more ideas.

This session solicits contributions on all aspects of Mars atmospheric dust phenomena, from lifting by dust devils to upper atmosphere impacts of global dust storms, investigated via the analysis of observations, laboratory and field experiments, and/or the use of numerical modeling. Contributions that demonstrate the application of Earth-based ideas and techniques to Mars, or that provide insight on dust lifting from an aeolian geology perspective, are particularly welcome. The session will consist of oral talks, both invited and contributed, and posters.