Scientists at Arizona State University's Mars Space Flight Facility are using the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) on NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter to monitor a large dust storm on the Red Planet.

The dust storm erupted during the last week of June 2007. Beginning in the equatorial region west of Meridiani Planum, it moved into the heavily cratered southern highlands. The storm took roughly a week to grow large enough to spread around the planet south of the equator. Dust has now drifted into the northern hemisphere as well.

The dust is affecting operations for all five spacecraft operating at Mars. The fleet includes two NASA rovers on the ground (Spirit and Opprtunity), plus three orbiters, two of which belong to NASA (Mars Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter) and one to the European Space Agency (Mars Express).

A new algorithm is in use which better estimates the atmospheric dust opacity at infrared wavelength of 9 micrometers, especially during the height of the dust storm. Note that the scale bar now extends from nearly clear (0.05) to completely opaque (1.0). These maps will continue to be updated regularly.

Click on the images for larger versions and to see the data coverage maps. (Image credit: NASA/JPL/Arizona State University)