Animation
This movie shows the daily abundance of dust in the martian atmosphere
over a period of three full martian years, from April 1999 through
February 2005. The Thermal Emission Spectrometer instrument on NASA's
Mars Global Surveyor orbiter has been tracking the weather on Mars for
six years. The infrared spectrum observed by this instrument yields
information about the spectral properties of the dust and the temperature
of the atmosphere. These two properties can then be used to derive how
much dust is in the atmosphere.
Of particular interest are large regional and global dust storms that
occur during summer in the southern hemisphere each Mars year. The 2001
storm was by far the largest, lasting over six months (June to October,
2001) and covering the entire planet. The storms in the other two Mars
years shown here were much smaller and never covered the planet. The most
recent storm season (June 2003 through January 2005) actually had two
separate storms, one in June and a second in December. Unlike most large
martian dust storms that start in the southern hemisphere, the December
storm began in the north and swept toward the equator. Between storms the
atmosphere becomes quite clear, with much smaller dust storms scattered
throughout the year and over the planet.
Seasons on Mars are determined by the position of Mars in its orbit around
the Sun. The position is measured in degrees of solar longitude (Ls)
around the orbit, beginning at 0 degrees Ls at the northern spring
equinox, progressing to 90 degrees Ls at the start of northern summer,
180 degrees Ls at the fall equinox, 270 degrees Ls at the start of
northern winter, and finally back to 360 degrees, or 0 degrees, Ls at the
spring equinox. Dust abundance is measured as opacity (tau), with values
of 0 tau representing a completely clear atmosphere, and values of 2
indicating that it is nearly impossible to see through to the surface.
The Thermal Emission Spectrometer is operated by a team led at Arizona
State University, Tempe. Mars Global Surveyor left Earth on Nov. 7, 1996,
and began orbiting Mars on Sept. 12, 1997. JPL, a division of the
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages Mars Global Surveyor
for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.