THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO EXTRACT THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF GROWING / DECAYING MARTIAN DUST STORMS BY DOCUMENTING AND ANALYZING THE DEVELOPMENT HISTORIES OF LARGE DUST STORMS WHOSE LIFETIMES ARE LONGER THAN 3 SOLS. THESE DUST STORMS ATTAIN REGIONAL OR PLANET-ENCIRCLING SCALE AND ARE USUALLY COMPOSED OF A SERIES OF DUST STORM MEMBERS THAT EXHIBIT A COHERENT DEVELOPMENT HISTORY (I.E. DUST STORM SEQUENCE). THEY REPRESENT ONE OF THE MOST PRONOUNCED VARIABILITIES PROFOUNDLY AFFECT ATMOSPHERIC THERMAL STRUCTURE AND CIRCULATION AND GREATLY INFLUENCE THE OPERATIONS OF LANDERS AND ROVERS. UNDERSTANDING HOW THESE DUST STORMS DEVELOP IS THEREFORE HIGHLY IMPORTANT. DEVELOPMENT HISTORY ILLUSTRATES HOW A DUST STORM SEQUENCE (WITH ALL ITS MEMBERS AND AS A WHOLE) EVOLVES IN SPACE AND TIME. IT PROVIDES THE OBSERVATIONAL GROUND TRUTH FOR FORMULATING AND TESTING FRESH IDEAS ABOUT THE MARTIAN DUST CYCLE. THIS PROPOSAL WILL STUDY DEVELOPMENT HISTORY THROUGH A COMPREHENSIVE INVESTIGATION OF THE (1) GROWTH CURVE AND (2) TRAJECTORY AND DEVELOPMENT STYLE. GROWTH CURVE WILL SHOW HOW THE AREA OPACITY AND NUMER OF DUST STORM MEMBERS CHANGE WITH TIME. PATTERNS EXHIBITED BY GROWTH CURVES WILL BE USED TO CATEGORIZE DUST STORM SEQUENCES INTO DIFFERENT GROUPS. TRAJECTORY AND DEVELOPMENT STYLE WILL SHOW WHERE AND HOW A DUST STORM SEQUENCE DEVELOPS. THEY WILL BE STUDIED IN THE CONTEXT OF GROWTH CURVES TO EXAMINE HOW THEY CONTRIBUTE TO DEVELOPMENT HISTORIES. RESULTS FROM THIS PROPOSAL CAN BE USED TO ANSWER: (A) DO LARGE DUST STORMS GROW THROUGH A CERTAIN CONFIGURATION OF MANY ORDINARY PRECURSORS OR THROUGH A CRITICAL EVENT? (B) IS THERE ANY RELATIONSHIP AMONG THE TRAJECTORY DEVELOPMENT STYLE AND SIZE OF A DUST STORM SEQUENCE? ANSWERS TO THESE SCIENCE QUESTIONS WILL REVEAL THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF GROWING AND DECAYING DUST STORMS. THIS IS HIGHLY IMPORTANT FOR IMPROVING CURRENT UNDERSTANDING OF THE MARTIAN ATMOSPHERE. THIS PROPOSAL WILL PROVIDE MUCH-NEEDED CONSTRAINTS FOR TESTING THE REALISM OF MODEL RESULTS. IT WILL INSPIRE NEW STRATEGIES FOR BETTER SIMULATING THE MARTIAN DUST CYCLE. THIS PROPOSAL WILL ALSO BE HELPFUL FOR BETTER ASSESSMENT OF THE POTENTIAL FOR DUST STORM ACTIVITY FOR THE SAFETY OF MARS MISSIONS. THIS PROPOSAL IS RELEVANT TO MDAP BECAUSE IT FOCUSES ON DATA ANALYSIS IT DIRECTLY IMPROVES CURRENT UNDERSTANDING OF OPEN SCIENCE QUESTIONS AT MARS RELEVANT TO CURRENT HYPOTHESES IT ENHANCES THE SCIENTIFIC RETURN FROM MISSIONS TO MARS AND IT IS BENEFICIAL FOR PLANNING FUTURE MARS MISSIONS. THESE ARE AMONG THE AREAS SPECIFICALLY SOLICITED BY MDAP.