Charge Distribution of Ejected Particles after Impact Splash on Mars: A Laboratory Approach
- 1Faculty of Physics, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany (timsven.becker@uni-due.de)
- 2Instituto de Ceramica y Vidrio, CSIC, Madrid, Spain
- 3CSIC, Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, CSIC, Granada, Spain
- 4Institute of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus Universitet, Aarhus, Denmark
We present laboratory measurements for the charge distribution of dust to sand sized particles that are ejected in small-scale sand grain impacts, simulating saltation bombardement events on the Martian surface. Using a high speed camera, tracking particles within an electric field, we determined charges of individual grains characterizing single grain impacts. While the charge of small particles seems to have random polarity, larger particles show some bias toward positive charges. Such preference could lesd to a charge separation in the free air stream and thus to the establishment of an electric field near the surface, aiding further lifting as e.g. proposed by Renno&Kok 2008* and Holstein-Rathlou et al. 2010**.
*Renno, N. O., & Kok, J. F. 2008, SSRv, 137, 419, doi: 10.1007/s11214-008-9377-5
**Holstein-Rathlou, C., Gunnlaugsson, H. P., Merrison, J. P., et al. 2010, Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 115, doi: 10.1029/2009JE003411
How to cite: Becker, T., Onyeagusi, F. C., Teiser, J., Jardiel, T., Peiteado, M., Munoz, O., Martikkainen, J., Gomez Martin, J. C., Merrison, J., and Wurm, G.: Charge Distribution of Ejected Particles after Impact Splash on Mars: A Laboratory Approach, Europlanet Science Congress 2024, Berlin, Germany, 8–13 Sep 2024, EPSC2024-982, https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2024-982, 2024.
