Cloud patterns on Mars and Earth
Comparing the cloud patterns in dust storms on Mars with closed convection cells in Earth’s atmosphere. The image on the left depicts a storm at the martian North Pole in May 2019, as seen from the Visual Monitoring Camera (VMC) on Mars Express.
The repeated pattern of small cloud cells is caused by convection currents, when dusty air is heated by the Sun and rises to forms a small cell of between 20–40 km in horizontal size. The cells are surrounded by cooler air which descends, forming a boundary which creates the granular pattern.
On the right, Meteosat-8 captured closed-cell convection on Earth. Meteosat 8, the first satellite of the Meteosat Second Generation, is a joint Eumetsat and ESA mission. This image was taken on 20 March 2020 over the Azores.
The cellular pattern is created in a similar process to the pattern on Mars, with similar sizes of 20–50 km. However, instead of dust, the air columns contain water vapour which is heated and rises to form clouds.
