TY - JOUR
T1 - Winds at the Mars 2020 Landing Site. 2. Wind Variability and Turbulence
AU - Viúdez-Moreiras, D.
AU - de la Torre, M.
AU - Gómez-Elvira, J.
AU - Lorenz, R. D.
AU - Apéstigue, V.
AU - Guzewich, S.
AU - Mischna, M.
AU - Sullivan, R.
AU - Herkenhoff, K.
AU - Toledo, D.
AU - Lemmon, M.
AU - Smith, M.
AU - Newman, C. E.
AU - Sánchez-Lavega, A.
AU - Rodríguez-Manfredi, J. A.
AU - Richardson, M.
AU - Hueso, R.
AU - Harri, A. M.
AU - Tamppari, L.
AU - Arruego, I.
AU - Bell, J.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors acknowledge and thank the Mars 2020 team. The authors would like to thank Editors and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive reviews, which greatly improved this manuscript. This work is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, under project RTI2018‐098728‐B‐C31. The derived data presented in this work were processed in the DPS24PA system, which is supported by project no. DV2020‐ATM‐A01. Part of the research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (80NM0018D0004). The UPV/EHU team is supported by Grant PID2019‐109467GB‐I00 funded by 1042 MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/ and by Grupos Gobierno Vasco IT1742‐22.
Funding Information:
The authors acknowledge and thank the Mars 2020 team. The authors would like to thank Editors and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive reviews, which greatly improved this manuscript. This work is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, under project RTI2018-098728-B-C31. The derived data presented in this work were processed in the DPS24PA system, which is supported by project no. DV2020-ATM-A01. Part of the research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (80NM0018D0004). The UPV/EHU team is supported by Grant PID2019-109467GB-I00 funded by 1042 MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/ and by Grupos Gobierno Vasco IT1742-22.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022. The Authors.
PY - 2022/12
Y1 - 2022/12
N2 - Wind speeds measured by the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover in Jezero crater were fitted as a Weibull distribution. InSight wind data acquired in Elysium Planitia were also used to contextualize observations. Jezero winds were found to be much calmer on average than in previous landing sites, despite the intense aeolian activity observed. However, a great influence of turbulence and wave activity was observed in the wind speed variations, thus driving the probability of reaching the highest wind speeds at Jezero, instead of sustained winds driven by local, regional, or large-scale circulation. The power spectral density of wind speed fluctuations follows a power-law, whose slope deviates depending on the time of day from that predicted considering homogeneous and isotropic turbulence. Daytime wave activity is related to convection cells and smaller eddies in the boundary layer, advected over the crater. The signature of convection cells was also found during dust storm conditions, when prevailing winds were consistent with a tidal drive. Nighttime fluctuations were also intense, suggesting strong mechanical turbulence. Convective vortices were usually involved in rapid wind fluctuations and extreme winds, with variations peaking at 9.2 times the background winds. Transient high wind events by vortex-passages, turbulence, and wave activity could be driving aeolian activity at Jezero. We report the detection of a strong dust cloud of 0.75–1.5 km in length passing over the rover. The observed aeolian activity had major implications for instrumentation, with the wind sensor suffering damage throughout the mission, probably due to flying debris advected by winds.
AB - Wind speeds measured by the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover in Jezero crater were fitted as a Weibull distribution. InSight wind data acquired in Elysium Planitia were also used to contextualize observations. Jezero winds were found to be much calmer on average than in previous landing sites, despite the intense aeolian activity observed. However, a great influence of turbulence and wave activity was observed in the wind speed variations, thus driving the probability of reaching the highest wind speeds at Jezero, instead of sustained winds driven by local, regional, or large-scale circulation. The power spectral density of wind speed fluctuations follows a power-law, whose slope deviates depending on the time of day from that predicted considering homogeneous and isotropic turbulence. Daytime wave activity is related to convection cells and smaller eddies in the boundary layer, advected over the crater. The signature of convection cells was also found during dust storm conditions, when prevailing winds were consistent with a tidal drive. Nighttime fluctuations were also intense, suggesting strong mechanical turbulence. Convective vortices were usually involved in rapid wind fluctuations and extreme winds, with variations peaking at 9.2 times the background winds. Transient high wind events by vortex-passages, turbulence, and wave activity could be driving aeolian activity at Jezero. We report the detection of a strong dust cloud of 0.75–1.5 km in length passing over the rover. The observed aeolian activity had major implications for instrumentation, with the wind sensor suffering damage throughout the mission, probably due to flying debris advected by winds.
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U2 - 10.1029/2022JE007523
DO - 10.1029/2022JE007523
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85145846648
SN - 2169-9097
VL - 127
JO - Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets
JF - Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets
IS - 12
M1 - e2022JE007523
ER -