The insight mission will return continuous monitoring of winds, pressure, and air and ground temperature over multiple seasons, making IT of huge interest to those working on mars weather, as well…

This federal contract award to Aeolis Research Inc., a for-profit research firm, is for a grant totaling $630,000 to conduct investigations related to the Insight Mars lander mission. The award is focused on analyzing the mission's atmospheric data, including wind, pressure, and temperature measurements, to improve understanding of Martian weather, dust devil activity, and aeolian processes. The investigations will involve comparison of the Insight data with atmospheric modeling and data from the Curiosity rover (Mars Science Laboratory, MSL). This award is not associated with a set-aside program. The awarding agency is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the work is aligned with NASA's goals for the Insight mission and broader Mars exploration program.

The insight mission will return continuous monitoring of winds, pressure, and air and ground temperature over multiple seasons, making IT of huge interest to those working on mars weather, as well as on related fields such as dust devils and aeolian processes. The investigation proposed here will gain insight by direct analysis of the dataset, comparison with numerical modeling (by mesoscale and large eddy simulation) of the landing site atmosphere, and comparison with mars science laboratory (MSL) atmospheric data. The goal of this proposal is improved understanding of weather, dust devil activity, and aeolian processes on mars via the analysis of insight measurements and their comparison with atmospheric model predictions. This goal is addressed through four, interrelated investigations: 1. Determine the controls on the diurnal and seasonal pressure cycle. Having atmospheric data at two locations (MSL and insight) is very valuable. MSL is at a similar longitude and only 9DEG away in latitude, but with very different local topography and in the opposite hemisphere, hence regular MSL pressure monitoring may be combined with continuous insight monitoring to better understand the contributions of different circulation components (from the CO2 cycle and hadley cell to tides and traveling waves to crater topography) to the seasonal and diurnal pressure cycles. 2. Understand regional flows near the dichotomy boundary. Although MSL's wind sensor is no longer in use, the seasonal record of winds in gale will be compared with insight winds to build a better picture of the regional flow in this area. Comparison with models will be used to assess the relative contributions of the hadley overturning circulation, dichotomy boundary slope flows, tidal flows, etc. To the pattern of winds in this region. 3. Understand vortex activity. Short, deep pressure drops will be used to indicate convective vortex passage. Their dependence on time of day and season are important for constraining our knowledge of the boundary layer where they form and also vital to understand a major mechanism of dust lifting. An in situ dataset of both vortices and the atmospheric conditions in which they formed, at one location over multiple seasons, will be invaluable both for understanding their dependence on atmospheric conditions and for validating models and theories of vortex production and dust devil-based dust lifting. Both mesoscale and LES modeling will be used to predict vortex activity, with a comparison with observations used to indicate deficiencies in the models or theory. 4. Monitor aeolian activity and infer thresholds for particle motion. Wind data will be compared with a) temporal changes in aeolian features and b) changes in surface soil, deck, or solar panel dust cover between two images, in order to infer physical properties of the local environment, such as the threshold for saltation. Aeolian feature characteristics will also be predicted using wind data and model output and compared with observations to assess aeolian theory and model performance. The PI has significant experience in working on such investigations as a member of the MSL science team [e.g. bridges ET AL., 2017]. The PI will participate strongly in the atmosphere theme group, as she does in the environmental theme group on MSL, and also in the geology theme group, to e.g. help interpret / disseminate meteorological data and provide input into when higher resolution data should be sought. The PI is an associate team member on rems and a CO-i on the mars environmental dynamics analyzer on MARS2020, with strong expertise in working with mars in situ atmospheric data in general, and in particular with the wind sensors to be flown on insight. This investigation is relevant to the insight mission and program because IT will "expand on or enhance the science return of the insight project" and increase our ability to "better understand martian meteorology."