Volume 33 Issue 4
Jul.  2013
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CAI Huangbing, CHEN Chuxin. Physics of Wind-blown Sand and the Threshold Wind Speed of Dust Storms on Mars[J]. Chinese Journal of Space Science, 2013, 33(4): 374-380. doi: 10.11728/cjss2013.04.374
Citation: CAI Huangbing, CHEN Chuxin. Physics of Wind-blown Sand and the Threshold Wind Speed of Dust Storms on Mars[J]. Chinese Journal of Space Science, 2013, 33(4): 374-380. doi: 10.11728/cjss2013.04.374

Physics of Wind-blown Sand and the Threshold Wind Speed of Dust Storms on Mars

doi: 10.11728/cjss2013.04.374
  • Received Date: 2012-03-16
  • Rev Recd Date: 2012-09-17
  • Publish Date: 2013-07-15
  • The planet Mars is most closely related to Earth in its size and character. From the comparative planetology point of view, what happens on the Mars is of importance to our human being on the Earth. There exist dust storms on both Earth and Mars. The dust storm on Mars is different from that on Earth in its scale. However, in some aspects, they are similar on these two planets, like the mechanism for the generation of dust storm. In this paper, a model of wind-blown sand at the surface of sanded ground is constructed, and the threshold wind speed for dust storms to start on Mars is calculated based on the wind profile of atmospheric turbulent boundary layer. It is concluded that the wind speed of 28.7 meters per second at 2 meters height is needed for a dust storm to start on Mars, and the suspended dust particles' diameter is less than 30 micron when wind speed is at the threshold value. It is also found that sands need to roll a distance of one particle's diameter before saltation.

     

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