Assessing the power law hypothesis for the size-frequency distribution of terrestrial and martian dust devils

A.V. Pathare (1) , M.R. Balme (1) , S.M. Metzger (1) , Aymeric Spiga (2, 3) , M.C. Towner (4) , N.O. Renno (5) , F. Saca (5)

1 PSI - Planetary Science Institute [Tucson]
2 Department of Physics and Astronomy [Milton Keynes]
3 LMD - Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (UMR 8539)
4 Department of Earth Science and Engineering [Imperial College London]
5 AOSS - Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences [Ann Arbor]

Competing hypotheses for the diameter dependence of terrestrial and martian dust devil frequency are assessed using new field observations from two sites in the southwestern United States. We show that at diameters less than 12. m, our observed dust devil size-frequency distributions are better fit by an exponential function than by a power law formulation, and discuss the implications for larger dust devils on Earth and Mars. © 2010 Elsevier Inc.

Domaines: Planétologie; Météorologie

A.V. Pathare, M.R. Balme, S.M. Metzger, Aymeric Spiga, M.C. Towner, et al.. Assessing the power law hypothesis for the size-frequency distribution of terrestrial and martian dust devils. Icarus, 2010, 209 (2), pp.851-853. ⟨10.1016/j.icarus.2010.06.027⟩. ⟨hal-01136721⟩