Observing desert dust devils with a pressure logger

摘要

A commercial pressure logger has been adapted for long-term field use. Itsflash memory affords the large data volume to allow months of pressuremeasurements to be acquired at the rapid cadence (>1 Hz) requiredto detect dust devils, small dust-laden convective vortices observed in aridregions. The power consumption of the unit is studied and battery andsolar/battery options evaluated for long-term observations. A two-month longfield test is described, and several example dust devil encounters areexamined. In addition, a periodic (~20 min) convectivesignature is observed, and some lessons in operations and correction of datafor temperature drift are reported. The unit shows promise for obtaininggood statistics on dust devil pressure drops, to permit comparison with Marslander measurements, and for array measurements.