Wind streak mapping is used in practice to map the direction of near-surface winds on Mars and Venus, as well as to estimate the global flow of winds in the atmospheres of these planets* For the first time this technology was used to scan the Earth
Aviv Lee Cohen-Zada, a doctoral student in the Remote Sensing and Planetary Simulation Laboratory in the Department of Geography and Environmental Development at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, won a Ramon scholarship from the Ministry of Science in the amount of NIS 250. The scholarship was awarded to him today (Monday, January 30.1.2017, XNUMX) as part of the Israeli Space Week events (for the study of wind streaks on Earth.
The movement of the atmosphere from place to place, i.e. the wind, has an effect on the surface design of rocky planets. The appearance of landscape forms created by wind, such as sand dunes, suggests the interplay between wind and land. Aviv Lee Cohen-Zada investigates the most common form of landscape on the planets Mars, Venus and Earth - wind streaks. He examines how wind streaks are formed and what insights can be derived from them regarding the climatic history of the planets. According to his research wind streaks differ in color on the surface and thus can be seen from space and the air. Wind streaks found on the surface of the planets are evidence of the existence of an atmosphere and a gust of wind strong enough to drive dust and sand. The wind bands actually represent climatic processes.
Wind band mapping is used in practice to map the direction of winds blowing near the surface on Mars and Venus, as well as to estimate the global flow of winds in the atmosphere of these planets. Although wind streaks are also known on Earth, they have never been studied from a global perspective as has been done on Mars and Venus. Cohen-Zada's research deals with wind streaks on the Earth in a global aspect. It combines field research with comprehensive analysis of satellite simulations and climate data.
The results of the research are expected to provide an explanation of the changes in the landscape due to wind activity and in fact provide tools for verifying and strengthening climate models on other planets. Climate models are numerical simulations of the movement of the atmosphere and the changes that occur in it over time. The models are used to study the dynamics of each planet's atmosphere. They are also used to predict climate conditions and assess the human impact on climate change on Earth. An extensive study of wind streaks on Earth is able to provide new insights into the ways of formation, the mechanisms and the time frames of this landscape form. Geomorphological research around the world could also lay the foundations for an established comparative planetary study.
In planetary research, the planets are used as natural laboratories with different conditions. Comparative planetary research tries, among other things, to understand why planets with similar opening data evolved in such a different way. One of the subjects being examined is the development and change of a planet's atmosphere.
