Martian landers have been able capture measurements of wind speeds -- some gauging the cooling rate of heated materials when winds blow over them, others using cameras to image 'tell-tales' that blow in the wind -- but there's still room for improvement.
Martian landers have been able capture measurements of wind speeds -- some gauging the cooling rate of heated materials when winds blow over them, others using cameras to image 'tell-tales' that blow in the wind -- but there's still room for improvement. Researchers now demonstrate a novel sonic anemometric system featuring a pair of narrow-band piezoelectric transducers to measure the travel time of sound pulses through Martian air.
But there's still room for improvement in the astronomical toolshed, especially as plans to send astronauts to Mars unfold in the coming years., published on behalf of the Acoustical Society of America by AIP Publishing, researchers from Canada and the U.S. demonstrated a novel sonic anemometric system featuring a pair of narrowband piezoelectric transducers to measure the travel time of sound pulses through Martian air.
"By measuring quickly and accurately, we hope to be able to measure not only mean winds, but also turbulence and fluctuating winds," said White."This is important for understanding atmospheric variables that could be problematic for small vehicles such as the Ingenuity helicopter that flew on Mars recently."
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