Understanding the martian dust cycle across all timescales is important for ensuring the safety of spacecraft operations. However, regional dust events occur unpredictably. Fortunately, the…

Yale University was awarded a $259,573 grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to investigate the occurrence of annular modes in the Martian atmosphere and their influence on the timing, growth, and frequency of transient atmospheric waves that trigger large dust events. The objective is to improve understanding of the Martian dust cycle to help ensure the safety of spacecraft operations, as regional dust events occur unpredictably. The grant does not have a set-aside designation and runs through August 31, 2025. This research aligns with NASA's broader mission to expand knowledge of the solar system and enable safe space exploration.

Understanding the martian dust cycle across all timescales is important for ensuring the safety of spacecraft operations. However, regional dust events occur unpredictably. Fortunately, the traveling atmospheric waves responsible for triggering large dust events sometimes repeat at regular intervals. This behavior hints at underlying, large-scale dynamics, specifically that of annular modes. On earth, two annular modes have been documented: barotropic and baroclinic modes. The barotropic modes are related to the zonal-mean zonal wind, and the baroclinic modes are connected to the zonal-mean eddy kinetic energy of traveling waves that on mars generate frontal, precursor dust events. On earth, the baroclinic mode expresses a specific frequency around 25 days, which is similar to the regularity shown by martian atmospheric waves (20 sols). With ation of martian annular modes and their control on the periodicity of the traveling waves that induce regional dust storms, these dynamics may provide guidance for the prediction of dust activity in the absence of forecasting capabilities, which could prove invaluable to the safety of surface operations. The main objective is to investigate the occurrence of annular modes in the atmosphere of mars and to establish the influence of their dynamics upon the timing, growth, and frequency of transient atmospheric waves that trigger large dust events.