Mars - Electric Atmosphere

[StefanR]

Global Electric Circuit of Mars

Introduction
Even though several missions to Mars have passed through the Martian atmosphere and have had extended research programs on the surface, to date there have been no measurements of the vertical profiles of atmospheric conductivity, electric field, or current density. Therefore, any conclusions made concerning the global electric circuit of Mars must be made by using what is known of Earth's global electric circuit and applying it to Mars through analogy or by reproducing conditions found at Mars in a laboratory setting.
On Earth it is generally accepted that the global electric circuit is driven by thunderstorms [Wilson, 1920]. In this circuit model, thunderstorms act as electrical generators that drive currents upward. As a result, the upper atmosphere becomes positively charged with respect to Earth's surface. In the steady state, charge in the upper atmosphere leaks back to the ground through the finitely conducting atmosphere. Near Earth's surface, the atmospheric conductivity is large enough to dissipate any field on the order of minutes. Therefore, the average global electric field must be maintained by some almost continuous current source. For Earth, the dominant generator is believed to be thunderstorms [Krider and Roble, 1986]. Other sources also play a role in driving Earth's global electric circuit, but it is thought that thunderstorms are the dominant contributor.

How can knowledge of Earth's global electric circuit be applied to Mars? In order for a global electric circuit similar to Earth's to exist in the Martian atmosphere, a constant current source, or current generator must be located in a finitely conducting atmosphere. Over decades of visual observations by both orbiting spacecraft and landers, no thunderstorms have been detected on Mars. Most likely, the Martian environment is too dry and too cold for such phenomena to form. Therefore, alternate current sources must be found in order to drive the global electric circuit. Alternate current sources on Earth and their applications to the Martian environment will be investigated later. First, we will look at the possibility of the presence of a conducting atmosphere and some of the sources of atmospheric conductivity.

http://sprg.ssl.berkeley.edu/matt/mars/mars_gec.html

[mharratsc]

"Since the electrified particles are in motion, and a magnetic field is just the result of moving electric charges, the dust devil generates a magnetic field also."

Woo! University of Michigan is testing the bounds of Heresy in that statement! The Monsigniors of Magnetic Reconnection and the Friars of Frozen-In Magnetic Fields will have the whole lot of them excommunicated from the Mainstream, and the Pope of Peer-Review will nevah againe throw them the Bone of Holy Funding!!

Well... it may not give credit to the peeps who originally deduced this stuff, but at least it's got them pointed in the right direction and they're experimenting with it now. :\

Mike H.

[squiz]

For the first time, direct evidence of lightning has been detected on Mars, say University of Michigan researchers who found signs of electrical discharges during dust storms on the Red Planet.

"What we saw on Mars was a series of huge and sudden electrical discharges caused by a large dust storm," Ruf said. "Clearly, there was no rain associated with the electrical discharges on Mars. However, the implied possibilities are exciting."

On June 8, 2006 both an unusual pattern of non-thermal radiation and an intense Martian dust storm occurred, the only time that non-thermal radiation was detected. Non-thermal radiation would suggest the presence of lightning.

The researchers reviewed the data to determine the strength, duration and frequency of the non-thermal activity, as well as the possibility of other sources. But each test led to the conclusion that the dust storm likely caused dry lightning.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090630181121.htm

Another slam dunk, of course they have the cause and effect mixed up.

Here's a few related TPOD's.
http://www.thunderbolts.info/tpod/2008/arch08/080114electrifieddustdevils.htm
http://www.thunderbolts.info/tpod/2006/arch06/060807martianelectricity.htm
http://www.thunderbolts.info/tpod/2007/arch07/071025dustdevils.htm
http://www.thunderbolts.info/tpod/2005/arch05/051109dustmars.htm

[Tzunamii]

Nice find
The more non atmospheric weather phenomena we see on mars the better.
"So, what came 1st, the Dust storm, or the Electricity?"
Sounds like the beginnings of a new Punk song.

[dahlenaz]

Here is the paper that went in the AGU journal. You'll likely find it quite interesting.

http://ktb.engin.umich.edu/RSG/pubs_fil ... htning.pdf

There is a lot more need to gather data about the dust devils before they can be associated with
the findings of this paper. There was only one day when the occurrance of Non-thermal radiation
was detected and that was during a hugh duststorm which may not have involved dust devils, according to the Spirit Rover site in reference to another site and time.
You've made reference to several TPODs and you'll want to differentiate opinions from actual evidence
and statements that are limited in their scope of considerations, such as limiting dust devils
to tornado formation theory which says they start horizontally. or this statement which is
misleading "The Spirit Rover returned several images of large, glowing funnels raking across the flatlands, leaving darkened trackways behind." (http://www.thunderbolts.info/tpod/2008/ ... devils.htm)
The glow mentioned is artificial, created in the movie enhancement process, and the dark tracks are the exposing of the
dark subsurface.

The brightness of dust devil tops mentioned in a recent TPOD is appearing to be also misleading, MOC
images also go through enhancement processes which change contrast. I say apparently because i still
have some phone calls to make, to the MOC people, about enhancement. We should also be looking at raw
images rather than enhanced.

I know for a fact from observation and experiment that dust devils can be created by a rupture
in an overlaying cap of cool air holding down the heated surface air.
The antarctica dust devil is just like the giant ones we get here in arizona, which i've observed for years,
when the upper level air is cool and the surface gets well heated fast. I'll bet that a large portion if not all
of those seen by Spirit Rover at the site below are of this type. This is based on their frequency,
height and the time of day and year at which they are ocurring. In those cases it is likely dust before
electricity but for the bigger ones seen by spirit those may have bridged the gap enough to tap into
the bigger electrical source. It may not be the planets ionosphere. The direction of dust devil movement has been reports as seasonal.

The early-spring dust devils tended to move southwest-to-northeast, across the
dust devil streaks in Gusev seen from orbit. Increasingly as the season
progresses, the dust devils are seen moving northwest-to-southeast, in the
same direction as the streaks.

This opens up a another source for consideration based on a pattern observed here on earth but not related
to dust devils-at this stage of observations. I need to look further into mars' orientation to the galactic plane
during these periods of directionality, so i'll hold off on tossing around notions.

Here is a paper which has some interesting details to gleen from with reference to mars' conditions.
http://www.oma.be/TLE2008Workshop/Session7/Aplin.pdf

I'll get back here as soon as i get some more reading done.

dzp http://www.electric-spark-scars.com

[StefanR]

We study atmospheric escape from Mars during solar wind pressure pulses. During the solar minimum of 2007–08 we have observed 41 high pressure events, which are predominantly identified as corotating interaction regions (CIR) while a few are coronal mass ejections (CME), in data from the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) upstream of the Earth. 36 of these events are also identified using Mars Express (MEX) data at Mars. We use MEX measurements at Mars to compare the antisunward fluxes of heavy planetary ions during the passage of these pulses to the fluxes during quiet solar wind conditions. The ion fluxes are observed to increase by a factor of ∼2.5, on average. Hence, a third of the total outflow from Mars takes place during ∼15% of the time, when a solar wind pressure pulse impacts on the planet. This can have important consequences for the total time-integrated outflow of plasma from Mars.

http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2010/2009GL041814.shtml

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009 ... icated.jpg

Writing in the AGU journal Geophysics Research Letters, the scientists report that Mars is constantly losing part of its atmosphere to space.
The new study shows that pressure from solar wind pulses is a significant contributor to Mars's atmospheric escape.
The researchers analysed solar wind data and satellite observations that track the flux of heavy ions leaving Mars's atmosphere. The authors found that Mars's atmosphere does not drift away at a steady pace; instead, atmospheric escape occurs in bursts.
The researchers related those bursts of atmospheric loss to solar events known as corotating interaction regions (CIRs). CIRs form when regions of fast solar wind encounter slower solar wind, creating a high-pressure pulse. When these CIR pulses pass by Mars, they can drive away particles from Mars's atmosphere.
The authors found that during times when these CIRs occurred, the outflow of atmospheric particles from Mars was about 2.5 times the outflow when these events were not occurring. Furthermore, about one third of the material lost from Mars into space is lost during the impact and passing of CIRs.
The study should help scientists better understand the evolution of Mars's atmosphere.
Professor Mark Lester, Head of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Leicester said: "The main reason it happens at Mars and not at Earth is the lack of a magnetic field produced by the planet, which protects the atmosphere at Earth.
"One other aspect of this work is that the observations were made during a very quiet period in the eleven year solar cycle and so we would expect the effect of these and other large scale disturbances to be higher at other times in the solar cycle."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100312133725.htm

[Grey Cloud]

The authors found that Mars's atmosphere does not drift away at a steady pace; instead, atmospheric escape occurs in bursts.

Would I be correct in thinking that this means that they cannot estimate how long it is since Mars had an complete atmosphere? That is they cannot back calculate it.

[StefanR]

Electrical Phenomena on the Moon and Mars

Gregory T. Delory
Space Sciences Laboratory
University of California, Berkeley

Abstract—The Moon and Mars represent intriguing and divergent case studies where natural
electrical processes may occur in environments beyond our more familiar terrestrial
experience. The windy, Aeolian environment of Mars likely produces substantial electrical
activity via the tribo-electrification of individual dust grains that occurs during atmospheric
disturbances. While there may be some analogies between atmospheric electrical processes on
the Earth and Mars, the highly rarefied, dry Martian atmosphere imposes unique conditions
that govern the charging and discharge dynamics of particulates. In contrast to the windswept
surface of Mars, the Moon is a small airless body whose surface is directly exposed to
variable space plasmas and solar irradiation. Measurements during the Apollo missions, together
with more recent data from orbital spacecraft, indicate that there are active and dynamic
charging processes occurring on and near the lunar surface. One possible consequence
of dynamic lunar electrical activity may be the levitation and perhaps large scale transport of
lunar dust. For both the Moon and Mars we only have indirect evidence at best for the existence
of electrical activity of any real global consequence. This paper is a brief, semi-tutorial
review that discusses the background and history behind these investigations, highlights key
ongoing research, and describes future efforts that will help resolve the fundamental, outstanding
questions that remain.

E. Open Questions and Future Directions
To summarize, to date there is only tantalizing evidence as to whether Mars possesses an
active electrodynamic environment. While experience in the laboratory and in the terrestrial
environment supports this notion, direct observations are few and ambiguous. Laboratory
experiments are ongoing and may shed light on mechanisms of dust charging
[47, 48], and dust charging models will undoubtedly improve by incorporating more sophisticated
physical descriptions of the discharge process [49]. However, definitive
progress will only be made through measurements of electrical activity in and near the
Martian environment. From orbit around Mars, the appearance of circularly polarized,
whistler-mode electromagnetic waves during dust storms would argue strongly for the
presence of lightning in analogy with similar arguments being made for Venus [50]. On
the surface, a relatively simple experiment to measure radio waves in the lightning sferic
band (~1-20 kHz) would also provide a similar confirmation, as would the detection of
global resonant electromagnetic modes in the Schumann band (<100 Hz) indicating the
presence of lightning generated waves trapped in the surface-ionosphere cavity [51, 52].
Lacking a definitive detection of lightning, a measurement of the vertical fair-weather
electric field could provide an estimate for the degree of charge separation occurring in
dust devils and storms at global scales [27] via the atmospheric electric circuit. These
measurements are for the most part straightforward, and will serve to guide future modeling
efforts by confirming whether or not lightning is present, and the degree to which the
atmosphere of Mars is electrified. Opportunities for orbital measurements may arise
through continual analysis of receiver data from MARSIS on Mars Express, and from the
Langmuir Probe/Waves instrument on the upcoming Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution
(MAVEN) mission scheduled for launch in 2013. Among all future possibilities
for relevant measurements, observations from the surface are the most likely to produce a
significant step in our understanding of the true nature of atmospheric electricity on
Mars. Despite attempts by several research groups, no instruments measuring electromagnetic
phenomena have yet made their way to the Martian surface. Such instruments
may be included on future landed network platforms [53], which would ideally study the
entire electro-meteorological system, including AC and DC fields combined with wind
velocity, temperature, pressure, and dust properties.

http://www.electrostatics.org/images/ESA2010_A1_Delory.pdf

[mharratsc]

The latest article posted by Stefan diffidently suggests that they are starting to pursue the notion of an 'active', electrodynamic environment on Mars, even after 10 years of knowing that Mars gets bombarded by positive ions from the Sun.

Amazing how the paradigm blinds even well-trained people into looking at how triboelectric charging of dust grains 'blown in the Martian (non-existent) wind' could charge the dust to the extremes that have been seen so far.... :\

[nick c]

This thread is a composite of the following threads:

Mars Antisymmetry

Phoenix Spies - and Feels - Dust Devils

Solar Wind Rips Plasmoids From Martian Atmosphere

More evidence of methane on Mars

Aurora on Mars

First direct evidence of Lightning on Mars

[GaryN]

Spirit Rover Begins Making Night Sky Observations
by Nancy Atkinson on June 27, 2009

When your rover has abundant energy but can’t go anywhere, what’s a scientist to do? How about making observations of the evening and night skies on Mars?

http://www.universetoday.com/33613/spir ... ervations/
Unfortunately, the Spirit Rover has been quiet for a while now.
Maybe if it wakes up, and the dust settles, it will do some more astronomy?

[fosborn]

“We can only see bright stars, looking through the dust, but can pick out most of the major stars in Orion for instance.”

Sounds like the dust makes it no better than Kansas.

[Sparky]

other than verifying that the stars can be seen from mars, what purpose do these images serve?

[fosborn]

by Sparky » Apr 30th, '11, 08:52

other than verifying that the stars can be seen from mars, what purpose do these images serve?

Whats the purpose? I don't know other than GaryN knows when something is so cool, it must be shared.
Well, has it ever occurred to you to consider the use of Rover or Spirit, PanCam for astronomy on Mars ( not to me, not in a million years)? Even though all the calibrations are for day time use, the results are awesome!
This is a nice picture of Orion( it looked much better before I reduced it to post here).

Martian Astronomy! So cool. Thanks GN !
It sounds like the team controlling the program, has a true love and imagination for what they are doing. I love it when we tax payers, get the maximum amount of science possible for our dime!
http://pancam.astro.cornell.edu/pancam_ ... cts_2.html

[Sparky]

by Sparky » Apr 30th, '11, 08:52

other than verifying that the stars can be seen from mars, what purpose do these images serve?

Whats the purpose? I don't know other than GaryN knows when something is so cool, it must be shared.
Well, has it ever occurred to you to consider the use of Rover or Spirit, PanCam for astronomy on Mars ( not to me, not in a million years)? Even though all the calibrations are for day time use, the results are awesome!
This is a nice picture of Orion( it looked much better before I reduced it to post here).

Martian Astronomy! So cool. Thanks GN !
It sounds like the team controlling the program, has a true love and imagination for what they are doing. I love it when we tax payers, get the maximum amount of science possible for our dime!
http://pancam.astro.cornell.edu/pancam_ ... cts_2.html

uhhhh, specks of light.