Dust Devils In Jezero Crater, single-point repository of imagery Options

[neo56]

My take on this awesome shot of Ingenuity in front of two distant dust devils, and in animation.

[neo56]

A very beautiful dust devil was recorded by Mastcam-Z Right in the sequence of the 5th flight of Ingenuity.
Substracting MCZ frames by a frame without the dust devil makes it more visible.

[Andreas Plesch]

Another day, another devil in dust alley:



(preview does not seem to play, click to animate)

https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020-raw-images/p...0_01_295J01.png

[PDP8E]

a little late with this ... I just saw Andreas post this as well - post #54
Here is a gif of the best frame of the dust devil on Sol 84

[Phil Stooke]

Dust devil alert! (yes, another one). Sol 92, just about due west, right side of this image (NLF_0092_0675115622_792EBY_N0040136NCAM00698_00_0LLJ01_800).

Phil

[charborob]

Sol 92 LMastcam-Z, with a dust devil in the upper left corner:

[PDP8E]

Since this place looks like Dust Devil Alley... I wrote a little workflow program to look for them in the NAV sequences

This is SOL 84 ... (we've seen this --- eyes left) ... the gain is cranked in the program



This is Sol 78 ... The program found a near-invisible DD



(The blues are darker areas that change color before they are gained... it's a work in progress

[neo56]

The nice dust devil of sol 92 captured by MCZ-Right, contrast enhanced:



And an animation:

[Andreas Plesch]

Another set of images captured by Hazcam and Navcam of one or possibly two dust devils, a good two minutes apart, on sol 102, in the favored spot, in front of the darker crater wall:

[PDP8E]

Here is a GIF of 21 images (NAVCAM LEFT) for 5 minutes around local noon on Sol 101
It is from a program that looks for dust devils
Short Story: there are none close by (but there is something going on on top of the deltas in the center)
With the gain turned all the way up -- I suspect I am seeing compression artifacts, exposure differences, sensor sensitivities

[PDP8E]

Sol 100 Dust Devil Program
21 image GIF - NAVCAM-LEFT - 5min starting at 2:15 pm local

(1) left of center on top of a delta
(2) right of center in front of the deltas (speedy)

[Andreas Plesch]

A more stationary dust swirl on the center of the delta, on sol 107:



Click to animate. The frame spacing is about 14s but played at 0.5s for dramatic effect.

quickest workflow:

- filter raw images to select frames as specifically as possible.
- use bookmarklet to extract list of raw image urls
- copy list and paste as wget arguments on console to download, remove urls if necessary
- optionally enhance images with gimp or imagemagick
- upload images to ezgif.com
- use ezgif to crop, enhance, label and optimize animated gif
- download from ezgif.

[PDP8E]

Sol 107 Dust Devil Watch
Finer details still elude the detector so far ... but that delta is far away!
5 minute GIF starting 1:15pm local time
Scintillating bits are compression/stretching (?) or real (?)

[PDP8E]

Sol 111 -- Dust Devil Watch
Probable: One very far DD -- far left on the top of the crater rim - persists over several frames
Otherwise not much else
Gain all the way up - and then some - (very scintillating!)
GIF

[vikingmars]

Sol 114: a big dust devil was passing close to the rover

[nprev]

Hey, all. At the suggestion of long-time member PDP8E this thread has been created for everybody to post their images and animations of dust devils observed by Perseverance. Please be sure to include the sols when taken and times as well if they're available to make this data (and your great work) as useful as possible for any researchers who may take an interest. Thanks!

EDIT: I'll be moving several posts from the Perseverance threads over here to kick it off.

[PDP8E]

SOL 35 -- 1:20PM local
3 frame segment of a 360 degree quick peek (no DDs in the other frames)
Facing SW, the landing site is in the center, Kodiak is to the right.

[neo56]

A larger field of view including Kodiak hill showing the dust devil mentioned by Olivier:



Contrast increased:


And another dust devil, again on sol 114:

[PDP8E]

SOL 117
WOW -- No fancy detector required!
It is more of a GUST than a DD...

[tau]

Two dust devils on sol 120 in a difference image.
The right one (black here because negative) was photographed at 13:40:26 local mean solar time,
the left one (white because positive) at 13:49:45. Its continuation into the sky is faintly visible.

[HSchirmer]

Hmm, time to start naming the dust devils after the members of the band Kansas, perhaps after cities in Kansas, and crowd-sourcing a competition to see which Kansas grade school can count the most?

Dust In The Wind.
https://youtu.be/tH2w6Oxx0kQ

[PDP8E]

SOL 121 Dust Devil Watch
360 degree quick peek (3 frames each in 5 stances)
GIF

[PDP8E]

SOL 123 Dust Devil Watch
21 Frames -- stationary stance -- 1PM local -- 14 secs between images -- 4 minute span
GIF


... the detector still has issues with the DD parts in the Sky ...

[PDP8E]

SOL 127 Dust Devil Watch (not 128)
360 degree quick peek (3 frames each in 5 stances) -- 3:20 PM local
GIF


edit 06-30-2021 -- fixed SOL # from 128 tp 127 -- oops -- reloaded GIF

[PDP8E]

SOL 128 Dust Devil Watch
21 Frames -- stationary stance -- 11 AM local -- all quiet (only compression and sensor noise)
GIF

[Ryan Kinnett]

(I posted this initially to the EDL thread but can't seem to find it now, so here it is for posterity)

Perseverance recorded this DD during descent. Simeon Schmauss spotted this in LCAM footage and produced this stabilized and reprojected view, shown here at 20x real time. The DD is seen moving westward at roughly 8.5 m/s (20 mph) and was estimated to be about 25 m (75 ft) wide.

https://twitter.com/stim3on/status/1379575241970683908?s=20

[Ryan Kinnett]

Perseverance recorded this DD during descent. Simeon Schmauss spotted this in LCAM footage and produced this stabilized and reprojected view, shown here at 20x real time. The DD is seen moving westward at roughly 8.5 m/s (20 mph) and was estimated to be about 25 m (75 ft) wide.

https://twitter.com/stim3on/status/1379575241970683908?s=20

Note the dark streak seen in the crater floor between the prominent foreground peninsula and the background peninsula. That got me and Simeon looking at HiRISE views of this area to see if that might be a transient feature, maybe a DD track. Sure enough, that track was visible in the first HiRISE view after Perseverance's arrival but was not present just six months earlier. That track is ~34m wide.



Across this broader HiRISE swath you can see dozens or hundreds of similar transient streaks, some estimated to be ~80m wide, predominantly oriented east/west.



This place is a popular playground for these devils!

[PDP8E]

Hi Ryan,
Thanks for those DD maps!
And a personal thank you for the RoverPics website over on github. Great Job!
Karle

[PDP8E]

SOL 132 - Dust Devil Watch
360 degree quick peek (3 frames each in 5 stances) -- 2:30 PM local
Improved noise reduction
Only one DD found - pretty quiet
GIF

[PDP8E]

SOL 134 Dust Devil Watch
360 degree quick peek (3 frames each in 5 stances) -- 8:45 AM local (early...)
Improved noise reduction
All quiet ... The mid-morning sun angle and lighting is interesting
GIF

[PDP8E]

SOL 137 Dust Devil Watch
21 Frames -- stationary stance -- 5:00 PM local
A new version of the detector - noise reduction / refined structure

A nice DD in the distance ----<oops see post #33>----
GIF

[PDP8E]

SOL 140 Dust Devil Watch
360 degree quick peek (3 frames each in 5 stances) -- 2:30 PM local

Nice DD in the SW stance (4th set)
GIF

[PDP8E]

on SOL 137 my dust devil detector was TRICKED!
I was checking the location of the SOL 137 'dust devil' and it wasn't there!

The sequence of 21 images was 5 minutes and 23 seconds starting at 17:05:27 PM (late in the day... long shadows)
Here is the first and last image in a GIF


The detector dilates the area around initial image differences and made it larger....
< see post #31>

[Phil Stooke]

I don't think this one was mentioned before: on sol 129 the Navcams caught a DD against the crater wall to the SW:

https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020-raw-images/p..._195J01_800.jpg



Phil

[PDP8E]

SOL 142 Dust Devil Watch
360 degree quick peek (3 frames each in 5 stances) -- 3:45 PM local
Looks like the same place as SOL 140
Very Quiet (I turned down the denoise knob just to see if it is that quiet... it is)
GIF

[PDP8E]

SOL 144 Dust Devil Watch
360 degree quick peek (3 frames each in 5 stances) -- 10:30 AM local
All Quiet
GIF

[PDP8E]

SOL 145 Dust Devil Watch
360 degree quick peek (3 frames each in 5 stances) -- 4:30 PM local
All Quiet -- Late in the day. -- NO DDs


abbreviated GIF

[PDP8E]

SOL 146 Dust Devil Watch
21 Frames -- stationary stance -- 3:00 PM local
ACTIVE -- a brief surface dust-gust in the center -- a strong gust on the right that blows into a type of dd?
GIF

[PDP8E]

SOL 147 Dust Devil Watch
360 degree quick peek (3 frames each in 5 stances) --3:45 PM local
Quiet -- NO DDs -- Abbreviated GIF

[PDP8E]

SOL 148 Dust Devil Watch
21 Frames -- stationary stance -- Noon local
VERY ACTIVE -- EIGHT DDs
GIF


... I hope Ingenuity survived...

[PDP8E]

REVISED SOL 148
I revved the program to move it into HSV color space (RGB is not intuitive for saturation and luminance)
The dust devils are now the correct Hue (with the brightness turned up just 33%)
It also kills the annoying scintillation from the noise and compression artifacts.

[PDP8E]

Detecting Dust Devils with multiple images is fairly straightforward: average all the frames, and compare each image to the average -- use subtract, ratio, and other techniques.
Detecting faint DDs in one image requires a different approach: increase the contrast while retaining the image quality-- somehow.
This is a test image from SOL 15 (!). The technique is Stochastic Equalization / Adaptive Contrast (SEAC)
The image has a pronounced screendoor effect from the Bayer (in the sky) and has an overall 'old-timey postcard quality', but the DD is visible and the contrast is increased
Another image 30 minutes before had no artifact at this position.
--GIF

[tau]

A storyboard for the dust devils from sol 148 (because the animated gif is too big for upload).

The difference between each image and the median of all 21 images is enlarged and then added to the median.
Since compression artifacts give large color blobs in the sky, I desaturated the sky.
The time markers start with the first image which was aquired at the local mean solar time of 12:01:50.

The large dust devil to the right of center in the first images seems to be quite close, because it casts a large shadow on the dune field in the foreground.
Later, the swirling dust around the brighter central column darkens the sky a bit.

[Phil Stooke]

That is an excellent presentation of the complex events on that sol. Thanks for posting it!

Phil

[PDP8E]

Tau, awesome work! (I hear you on the size issue!)

[tau]

Some very faint dust devils are even better visible in the difference images.
The images are converted to gray scale to remove amplified color noise.
From 0 min 43 sec to 1 min 26 sec I can count seven dust devils active at the same time.

[PDP8E]

Another view of the SOL 148 Event
Annotated -- 9 dust devils and a few gusts.
The event is 5 minutes long and we have 21 seconds of images.

[PDP8E]

SOL 151 Dust Devil Watch
360 degree quick peek (3 frames each in 5 stances) --1:45 PM local
Several DD's

[monty python]

This is amazing. Anybody want to build a wind farm on mars? Poor insight lander.

[neo56]

Really nice dust devils on sol 151.

[PDP8E]

SOL 153 Dust Devil Watch
21 Frames - single stance -- 11:55 AM local

One interesting DD -- it starts late -- wait for it! (center)
Another on the far left

[Andreas Plesch]

Another view of the SOL 148 Event
Annotated -- 9 dust devils and a few gusts.
The event is 5 minutes long and we have 21 seconds of images.

I really appreciate those animations. From memory this seems the most active 5 minutes observed so far in the area. Also, probably the clearest example of dust devils moving in opposite directions, simultaneously, perhaps hinting at local rotating 'supercells' spawning those turbulences.

[PDP8E]

SOL 154 Dust Devil Watch
360 degree quick peek (3 frames each in 5 stances) -- 12:30 PM local
DD's in the 4th and 5th sets

[PDP8E]

SOL 153 -- NAV - 2:51 PM local
There is a right-left pair if someone wants to try an anaglyph

[PDP8E]

SOL 156 Dust Devil Watch
21 Frames - single stance -- 12:15 PM local

Two DDs on the left will blow out-- BUT at the end, a crisp DD strolls in on the far right

[PDP8E]

SOL 157 -- NAVR - 2:30 PM local
There is part of a right-left NAV pair

[PDP8E]

SOL 151 Dust Devil Watch
360 degree quick peek (3 frames each in 5 stances) -- 3:20 PM local
Only two stances with DD and gusts
GIF

[PDP8E]

I finished up some improvements on the DD detector (C++) and tried it out on the SOL 148 Event.
Since this sequence was taken at High Noon at Jezero, there are no long shadows from the actual 'wispy' DDs.
So, I think the dark triangular 'mat' at the beginning is low flying dust flung from the passing DD. As the dust settles it takes on the color of the ground.
Light colors are more positive image pixels than the Averaged Comparison Image (21 frames), darks are more negative pixels
The program is fully automatic: drop the images in the working directory, press the button, and a minute later its is all done.
I believe a lot more hand processing would suss out more detail and make it more photorealistic.
I included the actual vs processed images as a comparison -- a little extra compression made it all fit into the upload limit.
GIF

[PDP8E]

SOL 166 Dust Devil Watch
360 degree quick peek (3 frames each in 5 stances) -- 12:30 PM local
Only one stance with DD
GIF


( I think the Rover team may be using greyscale to save image download bandwidth (?) )

[atomoid]

Stereo (parallel) view attempt for DD sol157
..no parallax for make benefit stereo so subsequent bribe of glorious 'turtle' to pose foreground!

[PDP8E]

Atomoid -A glorious turtle indeed!

SOL 169 - 21 image Dust Devil Watch -- 4:15 PM Local
NO DDs.
This is the single 'averaged' image:

[PDP8E]

SOL 170 Dust Devil Watch
360 degree quick peek (3 frames each in 5 stances) -- 3:45 PM local
No DDs but the terrain is interesting
GIF

[PDP8E]

SOL 172 Dust Devil Watch
360 degree quick peek (3 frames each in 5 stances) -- 5:05 PM local
No DDs -- late in the day... nice lighting
GIF

[PDP8E]

SOL 173 Dust Devil Watch
360 degree quick peek (3 frames each in 5 stances) -- 12:30 PM local

Distant Gust in Stance 3
Very close Gust in Stance 5
GIF

[PDP8E]

SOL 174 - "30" image Dust Devil Watch -- 11:15 to 11:40 AM Local
ACTIVE

There is a 30 frame sub-frame sequence
and a 15 frame full-frame sequence

30 frame:



(full frame is too big and basically the same thing)

[PDP8E]

Yet another DD watch on Sol 174

SOL 174 Dust Devil Watch
360 degree quick peek (3 frames each in 5 stances) --11:45 AM local

Gust in Stance 5
GIF

[PDP8E]

Re-processed SOL 173 DD
Increased the sensitivity for dark matter.
3 stances ...
* the first stance shows a distant event with dust flying
* the middle stance shows an increase of dust right before the NAV camera head swivels to the next stance
* The final sequence picks up the action -- gust? or DD off-camera??
GIF

[PDP8E]

SOL 175 Dust Devil Watch
360 degree quick peek (3 frames each in 5 stances) -- 12:50 PM local
No DD

[PDP8E]

SOL 176 Dust Devil Watch
360 degree quick peek (3 frames each in 5 stances) -- 12:20 PM local
No DD - odd angle

[PaulH51]

No DD - odd angle

19.35 degrees (from JSON)

[vikingmars]

Sol 178: dust devils spotted at the left of NavCam images
https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020-raw-images/p...8_01_195J01.png
https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020-raw-images/p...8_01_195J01.png

[PDP8E]

SOL 178 Dust Devil Watch
360 degree quick peek (3 frames each in 5 stances) -- 12:05 PM local
No DD - as we trundle down the service road between the ridge and the dunes ...

[PDP8E]

SOL 179 - 21 images (4 seconds apart) not sure why...
No DD ... looking at the ridge...

[PDP8E]

SOL 178 - 3:54 PM Local
rechecking images
there is a second fainter DD to the left of the 'visible' one that VikingMars pointed out... (and clouds too)
GIF

[PDP8E]

It's a two-for-one day!

DD Watch on SOL 181
360 degree quick peek (3 frames each in 5 stances) -- one in the morning and one at noon

Three DDs in Stance 5 (on the noon watch)

NOON is TOP
MORNING is BOTTOM

[PDP8E]

SOL 182 Dust Devil Watch
360 degree quick peek (3 frames each in 5 stances) -- 1:09 PM local

* Probable Distant DD in Stance 2 (a quarter of the way in from the left, against a distant hill)
* DD in Stance 5 to the left also

[PDP8E]

SOL 183 Dust Devil Watch
360 degree quick peek (3 frames each in 5 stances) -- 1:25 PM local

* Stance 1 -- Distant DD on the far right -- to the left of the horizon hills
* Stance 2 -- Distant DDs on the left -- picking up the DD action from Stance 1
* Stance 4 -- Distant DD in the hills

[PDP8E]

SOL 184 Dust Devil Watch
360 degree quick peek (3 frames each in 5 stances) -- 1:00 PM local

Stance 1 -- minor but real wind disturbance -- far-left
Stance 3 -- small DDs -- far-left and far-right
Stance 4 -- well-formed DD

[PDP8E]

SOL 186 - 21 Images - 1 Stance
All Quiet -- Nice view

[PDP8E]

SOL 188 Dust Devil Watch
360 degree quick peek (3 frames each in 5 stances) -- 2:35 PM local
All Quiet -- detector gain noise

[PDP8E]

SOL 189 Dust Devil Watch
360 degree quick peek (3 frames each in 5 stances) --4:45 PM local
All Quiet -- Stance 5 has an exposure timing diff due to facing the late afternoon Sun

[PDP8E]

SOL 191 Dust Devil Watch
360 degree quick peek (3 frames each in 5 stances) --4:40 PM local
All Quiet

[PDP8E]

SOL 193 (A) - Dust Devil Watch
21 Images - 1 Stance -3:05 PM
All Quiet

the first of 2 DD watches that day

[PDP8E]

SOL 193 (b ) Dust Devil Watch
360 degree quick peek (3 frames each in 5 stances) -- 3:10 PM local
Stance 4 has a DD climbing the crater rim

(the 2nd DD watch on SOL 193)

[PDP8E]

SOL 197 Dust Devil Watch
360 degree quick peek (3 frames each in 5 stances) -- 11:30 AM local

Stance 1 -- DD far left
Stance 2 -- Two distant DD's, center
Stance 5 -- DD far right

[PDP8E]

SOL 200 - Dust Devil Watch
21 Images -- 1 Stance -- 4:30 PM (late in the day)
All Quiet

[PDP8E]

SOL 202 - Dust Devil Watch
21 Images -- 1 Stance -- 3:20 PM
All Quiet

[PDP8E]

SOL 203 Dust Devil Watch
360 degree quick peek (3 frames each in 5 stances) -- 3:05 PM local

Stance 4 -- well-formed twister center-left

[PDP8E]

SOL 204 Dust Devil Watch
The Nav Cam caught this DD at 2:30 PM
(It is part of a Left/Right pair)

[HSchirmer]

Quick FYI- new paper on Dust Devils...

Vortices and Dust Devils As Observed by the MEDA Instruments onboard Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover
https://arxiv.org/abs/2109.04601

[PDP8E]

SOL 208 Dust Devil Watch
360 degree quick peek (3 frames each in 5 stances) -- 1:40 PM local

Stance 3 -- DD far-right
Stance 4 -- The same DD, now far-left ... and another DD far-right

[PDP8E]

.... Dust Devil Watches
SOL 210 21 images - 1 stance 4:15 PM -- NO DD
SOL 211 21 images - 1 stance 7:23 AM -- NO DD
SOL 212 no images
SOL 213 no images
SOL 214 15 images - 3 images - 5 stances 7:45 AM -- NO DD
SOL 214 21 images - 1 stance 8:40 AM -- NO DD


... more SOLS later...

[PDP8E]

SOL 215 - Dust Devil Watch
21 Images -- 1 Stance -- 10:43 AM

A moving Dust Devil visible in all 21 frames
and a close-range GUST in front of the camera!

[PDP8E]

SOL 215 B -- the 2nd DD sequence of that SOL ... and a strange one
30 Frames -- 1 stance -- 27 minutes long! -- 10:56 AM to 11:23 AM
The timing between frames is roughly: 33 sec -- 84 sec -- 33 sec -- 84 secs -- etc.

Gusts and Dust Devils!



EDIT: the 3rd DD sequenceof that Sol at 3:10 PM had no DDs

[djellison]

The timing between frames is roughly: 33 sec -- 84 sec -- 33 sec -- 84 secs -- etc.

There's one a bit like that on MSL.... take three frames - wait a minute - take three more. The three frames get you motion of any DDs in the scene - the minute wait the spreads them out to get more temporal coverage.

[PDP8E]

This is the large DD that Damia B. pointed out when she made that amazing panorama!
(contrast-enhanced)


... and we are at conjunction for a few days

[PDP8E]

Perseverance has been exposed to winds, gusts, and vortices for 200+ Sols
These 'containers' are associated with the mast stowage prior to landing ( i think ...)
Now they make excellent particle collectors... I hope to revisit them every few hundred Sols
GIF

[djellison]

These 'containers' are associated with the mast stowage prior to landing ( i think ...)

Yes - the RSM was stowed against these before being deployed - that's the left Navcam and MastcamZ cover you're looking at.

[PDP8E]

SOL 236 Dust Devil Watch
360 degree quick peek (3 frames each in 5 stances) -- 1:45 PM local
DDs -- one in Stance 4 and another in 5

[PDP8E]

SOL 241 Dust Devil Watch
360 degree quick peek (3 frames each in 5 stances) -- 11:00 AM local

DDs -- in Stance 4 and in 5