Dust Devils

This volume reviews both historical and current studies of desert whirlwinds called dust devils on Earth and Mars. These include field measurements, orbital observations, modelling of dust devil formation and structure, studies of their population and statistics, and their atmospheric and climate impact.

Dust devils have captivated humankind since antiquity, and yet also assume importance in that most modern of activities, planetary exploration. The close investigation of the planet Mars by an armada of spacecraft in the last couple of decades has stimulated extensive research on these desert whirlwinds, supported by improvements in field instrumentation on Earth, laboratory experiments and powerful numerical simulations. This convergence of capability and interest stimulated the workshop ‘Dust Devils on Mars and Earth’, conceived by Dennis Reiss, Ralph Lorenz, Matt Balme, Lynn D. Neakrase, Angelo Pio Rossi, Aymeric Spiga and John Zarnecki, held under the auspices of the International Space Science Institute in Bern, Switzerland, during the week of February 16-20, 2015. The workshop drew not only planetary scientists, for whom terrestrial dust devils are a convenient proxy for their Martian cousins, but also scientists studying the impact of dust on the terrestrial climate.

Originally published in Space Science Reviews, Volume 203, Issue 1-4, November 2016