Abstract—
A theoretical model is presented that describes the settling regime of plasma-dust clouds in the mesosphere of Mars. The values of the characteristic sizes of cloud dust particles predicted by the model are calculated. It is shown that an important factor influencing the formation of plasma-dust structures in the Martian atmosphere is the Rayleigh–Taylor instability, which limits (from above) the permissible sizes of dust particles in the cloud.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Altunin, V.V., Teplofizicheskie svoistva dvuokisi ugleroda (Thermophysical Properties of Carbon Dioxide), Moscow: Izd. standartov, 1975.
Barnes, M.S., Keller, J.H., Forster, J.C., O’Neill, J.A., and Coultas, D.K., Transport of dust particles in glow-discharge plasmas, Phys. Rev. Lett., 1992, vol. 68, pp. 313–316.
Dubinskii, A.Yu. and Popel, S.I., Formation and evolution of dusty plasma structures in the ionosphere, JETP Lett., 2012, 96, no. 1, pp. 21–26.
Dubinskii, A.Yu., Reznichenko, Yu.S., and Popel, S.I., Formation and evolution of dusty plasma structures in the ionospheres of the Earth and Mars, Plasma Phys. Rep., 2019, vol. 45, no. 10, pp. 928–935.
Dubinsky, A.Yu., Reznichenko, Yu.S., and Popel, S.I., On the kinetic features of sedimentation of dust particles in the Martian atmosphere, Sol. Syst. Res., 2023, vol. 57, no. 3, pp. 214–220.
Forget, F., Montmessin, F., Bertaux, J.L., Gonzalez-Galindo, F., Lebonnois, S., Quemerais, E., Reberac, A., Dimarellis, E., and Lopez-Valverde, M.A., Density and temperatures of the upper Martian atmosphere measured by stellar occultations with Mars Express SPICAM, J. Geophys. Res., 2009, vol. 114, p. E01004.
Fortov, V.E., Ivlev, A.V., Khrapak, S.A., Khrapak, A.G., and Morfill, G.E., Complex (dusty) plasmas: Current status, open issues, perspectives, Phys. Rep., 2005, vol. 421, pp. 1–103.
Fox, J.L., Benna, M., Mahaffy, P.R., and Jakosky, B.M., Water and water ions in the Martian thermosphere/ionosphere, Geophys. Res. Lett., 2015, vol. 42, pp. 8977–8985.
Hayne, P.O., Paige, D.A., Schofield, J.T., Kass, D.M., Kleinbohl, A., Heavens, N.G., and McCleese, D.J., Carbon dioxide snow clouds on Mars: South polar winter observations by the Mars climate sounder, J. Geophys. Res., 2012, vol. 117, p. E08014.
Izvekova, Yu.N. and Popel, S.I., Plasma effects in dust devils near the Martian surface, Plasma Phys. Rep., 2017, vol. 43, no. 12, pp. 1172–1178.
Klumov, B.A., Morfill, G.E., and Popel, S.I., Formation of structures in a dusty ionosphere, J. Exp. Theor. Phys., 2005a, vol. 100, pp. 152–164.
Klumov, B.A., Vladimirov, S.V., and Morfill, G.E., Features of dusty structures in the upper Earth’s atmosphere, JETP Lett., 2005b, vol. 82, pp. 632–637.
Klumov, B.A., Popel, S.I., and Bingham, R., Dust particle charging and formation of dust structures in the upper atmosphere, JETP Lett., 2000, vol. 72, no. 7, pp. 364–368.
Landau, L.D. and Lifshits, E.M., Statisticheskaya fizika. Chast’ 1 (Statistical Physics. Part 1), Moscow: Nauka, 1976.
Montmessin, F., Bertaux, J.L., Quémerais, E., Korablev, O., Rannou, P., Forget, F., Perriera, S., Fussend, D., Lebonnoisc, S., and Rébéraca, A., Subvisible CO2 ice clouds detected in the mesosphere of Mars, Icarus, 2006, vol. 183, pp. 403–410.
Montmessin, F., Gondet, B., Bibring, J.P., Langevin, Y., Drossart, P., Forget, F., and Fouchett, T., Hyperspectral imaging of convective CO2 ice clouds in the equatorial mesosphere of Mars, J. Geophys. Res., 2007, vol. 112, p. E11S90. NEWSru.com. Curiosity rover captures rare Martian clouds. www.newsru.com/hitech/30may2021/mars_ clouds.html.
Popel, S.I., Kopnin, S.I., Yu, M.Y., Ma, J.X., and Huang, F., The effect of microscopic charged particulates in space weather, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys., 2011, vol. 44, p. 174036.
Reznichenko, Yu.S., Dubinskii, A.Yu., and Popel, S.I., On dusty plasma formation in Martian ionosphere, J. Phys.: Conf. Ser., 2020, vol. 1556, p. 012072.
Savel’ev, R.S., Rozanov, N.N., Sochilin, G.B., and Chivilikhin, S.A., Rayleigh-Taylor instability of dusty gas, Nauchno-Tekh. Vestn. S.-Peterb. Gos. Univ. Inf. Tekhnol., Mekh. Opt., 2011, vol. 73, no. 3, pp. 18–22.
Shematovich, V.I., Bisikalo, D.V., and Zhilkin, A.G., Effect of variations in the extended hydrogen corona of Mars on the efficiency of charge exchange with solar wind protons, Astron. Rep., 2021, vol. 65, no. 3, pp. 203–208.
Shukla, P.K. and Mamun, A.A., Introduction to Dusty Plasmas Physics, Bristol: Inst. Phys. Publ., 2002.
Tsytovich, V.N., Morfill, G.E., Vladimirov, S.V., and Thomas, H., Elementary Physics of Complex Plasmas, Berlin: Springer, 2008.
von Zahn, U., Baumgarten, G., Berger, U., Fiedler, J., and Hartogh, P., Noctilucent clouds and the mesospheric water vapour: The past decade, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 2004, vol. 4, pp. 2449–2464.
Whiteway, J.A., Komguem, L., Dickinson, C., Cook, C., Illnicki, M., Seabrook, J., Popovici, V., Duck, T.J., Davy, R., Taylor, P.A., Pathak, J., Fisher, D., Carswell, A.I., Daly, M., Hipkin, V., Zent, A.P., Hecht, M.H., Wood, S.E., Tamppari, L.K., Renno, N., Moores, J.E., Lemmon, M.T., Daerden, F., and Smith, P., Mars water-ice clouds and precipitation, Science, 2009, vol. 325, no. 5936, pp. 68–70.
Funding
This work was supported by a grant from the Foundation for the Development of Theoretical Physics and Mathematics BASIS.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
The authors of this work declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note.
Pleiades Publishing remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Reznichenko, Y.S., Dubinskii, A.Y. & Popel, S.I. On the Influence of the Rayleigh–Taylor Instability on the Formation of Dust Clouds in the Mesosphere of Mars. Sol Syst Res 58, 263–268 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0038094624700187
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0038094624700187