Dune and ripple migration along rover Curiosity's traverse in Gale Crater (Mars)

The NASA Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, has safely landed near a 35 km long dark dune field in Gale Crater on Mars. This dune field crosses the landing site from the NE to the SW and lies along Curiosity's traverse to Aeolis Mons. Dr. Silvestro will present evidence of recent aeolian activity in the form of ripple and dune migration and further estimate wind directions within the dune field through analysis of ripple and dune morphologies and the Mars Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (MRAMS). He will show how constraints on the wind regime provide a unique opportunity to use ground measurements from MSL to test the accuracy of winds predicted from orbital data.

Speaker: Simone Silvestro