Review of Martian Dust Composition, Transport, Deposition, Adhesion, and Removal

Abstract

Adverse effects of dust accumulation on spacecraft and rover surfaces hinder the functioning of equipment on Mars and consequently limit mission duration. Hence, dust is an important parameter in the design, development, and testing of equipment for Mars surface missions. A review of Martian dust composition, transport, deposition, adhesion, and removal is presented. Martian dust has consistent average chemical and mineralogical composition over the entire planet. Sources of dust transport and deposition on the surface of Mars include ordinary atmospheric settling, dust storms, dust devils, near surface saltation, and artificial human/robotic disturbance of the regolith. Mechanisms of dust adhesion include chemical bonding, cementation, ice bridges, capillary forces, van der Waals forces, and electrostatic forces. There are a number of different methods to cause particle removal including vibration, centrifuge, impact, electrostatic repulsion, liquid or air flow, thermophoresis, and direct manipulation using a mechanical device. This paper presents a summary of what is known about Martian dust and its removal to date.

Gardening of the Martian Regolith by Diurnal CO2 Frost and the Formation of Slope Streaks

“…Wind tunnel experiments with frost‐free dust aggregates suggest that α ∼10 −5 N m −1 (Merrison et al., 2007). However, the presence of the frost (carbon dioxide and possibly water frosts) within the pores certainly increases the cohesion between grains (Greenberg et al., 1995; Perko et al., 2002). Consequently, it certainly impacts α .…”

DFT study of electronic and redox properties of TiO2 supported on olivine for modelling regolith on Moon and Mars conditions

“…The Martian surface is exposed to an intense solar UV radiation and cosmic rays. The interaction with this highly ionizing environment may induce several processes such as photoionization, isomorphic substitution, generation of charged atoms and electrons (Perko et al, 2002) and reactive surfaces, such as that of forsterite proposed here. The presence of both materials on Mars conditions is an ideal scenario for producing regolith.…”

Martian airfall dust on smooth, inclined surfaces as observed on the Phoenix Mars Lander telltale mirror

“…The most likely candidate is electrostatic adhesion given the high forces that may be generated from a few nN (Merrison et al, 2007) to 1 μN per particle (Perko et al, 2002) depending on humidity levels. This is also consistent with the presence of close to a single layer of particles.…”