THIS EFFORT WILL USE APSS PRESSURE AND WIND DATA TO NOT ONLY DETECT BUT IDENTIFY THE SIZE AND TRAJECTORY OF CONVECTIVE VORTICES SUCH AS DUST DEVILS USING METHODS PROVEN WITH TERRESTRIAL FIELD DATA (LORENZ ICARUS 271 326-337). ORBITAL DATA SHOW THAT DUST DEVILS FORM ABUNDANT TRACKS AT THE INSIGHT LANDING SITE (REISS AND LORENZ ICARUS 266 315-330). THE PROPOSER HAS DEMONSTRATED THAT THE LOW PRESSURE CORES OF SUCH VORTICES ACTING AS A NEGATIVE LOAD ON THE GROUND CREATES A PROMINENT SIGNATURE IN SURFACE TILT WHICH WILL BE DETECTABLE BY THE INSIGHT SEIS INSTRUMENT (LORENZ ET AL. BULL. SEISMOLOGICAL SOC. AM. 105 3015-3023). EVEN COARSE SEIS DATA CAN HELP RESOLVE AMBIGUITIES IN TRAJECTORY RETRIEVAL AND THE GOAL OF THIS INVESTIGATION WILL BE TO PRODUCE A CATALOG OF WELL-CHARACTERIZED VORTEX ENCOUNTERS. THIS CATALOG WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE TO ALLOW THE ESTIMATION OF GROUND ELASTIC PROPERTIES FROM THE TILT MEASUREMENT AND TO SEARCH FOR POSSIBLE SIGNATURES OF DUST DEVIL ENCOUNTER IN OTHER INSIGHT INSTRUMENTATION INCLUDING THE RADIOMETER IFG AND HP3 (E.G. LORENZ ICARUS 250 262-267). THIS PROPOSAL RESPONDS DIRECTLY TO THE SOLICITATION BY BROADENING SCIENTIFIC PARTICIPATION AND INVESTIGATING ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENA AND SURFACE INTERACTIONS.
$407,473FY2020National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA
The Johns Hopkins University