Life on the edge of a Martian storm track: extracting information on aeolian processes at Jezero from MEDA hardware failures on Mars 2020

The flux rate and size distribution of particles, dust or sand, lifted from the Martian surface is of great interest to understand surface modification, the dust cycle and for spacecraft safety [see e.g. 1-6 and references within]. Although several estimations of the fluid threshold required to lift particles of a certain size on Mars have been made [e.g. 3,4], there is still extremely limited data available. Furthermore, large particle movements have often been associated with the passage of dust devils, invoking a possible suction effect [2,3,4,6,7]. These processes are important to improve our understanding of the surface-atmosphere coupling and wider feedbacks with the atmospheric dynamics of Mars, including the development of dust storms [1]. 

The Mars Environment Dynamics Analyser (MEDA) wind sensor provides an example of how lofted particles pose a threat to surface hardware. Over the mission, the wind sensor has suffered damage to the wires connecting the sensor dice from particle impacts [6]. For such damage to occur, the impacting particles must have been a certain size and kinetic energy. As a result, these damage causing events can be used advantageously to infer the rate at which large particles are lifted from the surface and learn about the environmental conditions required to do so. 

Here, we present a series of probabilistic models for MEDA hardware failure events. The first model applies a reliability engineering approach to produce a first order understanding of failure rates. This enables predictive use. Following this, we propose a second model based on the distribution of changes in optical depth recorded by the rover, which acts as a proxy for variations in atmospheric dust content and allows analysis of seasonality. 

These models enable the exploration of large particle fluxes, fluid thresholds and planetary boundary layer behaviours. In turn, this may help inform future missions or improve the parameterisations used in Mars weather models.

 

References

[1] Newman, Claire E., et al. "Toward more realistic simulation and prediction of dust storms on Mars." (2020).
[2] Newman, Claire E., et al. "The dynamic atmospheric and aeolian environment of Jezero crater, Mars." Science Advances 8.21 (2022): eabn3783.
[3] Baker, M., et al. "Vortex‐dominated aeolian activity at InSight's landing site, Part 2: Local meteorology, transport dynamics, and model analysis." Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 126.4 (2021): e2020JE006514.
[4] Charalambous, Constantinos, et al. "Vortex‐dominated aeolian activity at InSight's landing site, Part 1: Multi‐instrument observations, analysis, and implications." Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 126.6 (2021): e2020JE006757.
[5] Lorenz, Ralph D., et al. "Lander and rover histories of dust accumulation on and removal from solar arrays on Mars." Planetary and space science 207 (2021): 105337.
[6] Hueso, Ricardo, et al. "Convective vortices and dust devils detected and characterized by Mars 2020." Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 128.2 (2023): e2022JE007516.
[7] Murdoch, Naomi, et al. "The sound of a Martian dust devil." Nature Communications 13.1 (2022): 7505.