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Dust Devil Formation

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Abstract

The essential dynamical characteristic of convective vortices, including dust devils, is a highly localized vorticity tube that extends into the vertical. This chapter is concerned with both the generation of vorticity and the subsequent focusing of that vorticity into a tight vortex, and with the environmental conditions that are conducive to the formation of convective vortices in general and dust devils in particular. A review of observations, theory, and modeling of dust devil formation is provided.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO, USA

    S. Rafkin

  2. University of Leeds, Leeds, UK

    B. Jemmett-Smith

  3. SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA, USA

    L. Fenton

  4. Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, USA

    R. Lorenz

  5. Kyoto University, Gokasho, Uji, Kyoto, Japan

    T. Takemi

  6. The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    J. Ito

  7. Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA

    D. Tyler

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  1. S. Rafkin
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  4. R. Lorenz
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Rafkin, S., Jemmett-Smith, B., Fenton, L. et al. Dust Devil Formation. Space Sci Rev 203, 183–207 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-016-0307-7

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