InSight Mission: Catalog of Martian Convective Vortices

Onodera et al. (2023) provide a systematic catalog of Martian convective vortices observed by NASA's InSight lander. The dataset includes 20-minute time-series records of pressure, seismic acceleration, wind speed, wind direction, and air temperature centered on vortex pressure drop events. This integrated catalog supports research into Martian atmospheric dynamics and subsurface interactions.

Use Cases

• Analyzing pressure drop signatures to characterize vortex intensity and frequency.
• Correlating seismic acceleration data with vortex events to study subsurface-atmosphere coupling.
• Modeling local meteorology using calibrated wind speed, direction, and air temperature time-series.
• Validating atmospheric convection models against in-situ observations from the InSight mission.

Strengths

• Dataset is derived from NASA's InSight mission, a primary source for Martian surface data.
• Includes multi-sensor time-series data (pressure, seismic, wind, temperature) aligned to specific vortex events.
• Associated with a peer-reviewed publication in JGR Planets (Onodera et al., 2023) providing methodological detail.
• Available under an Open Access license, facilitating reuse in planetary science research.

Limitations

• Specific row counts, dataset size, and last update dates are not provided in the source metadata.
• Data availability is noted to be incomplete for some sols (Martian days), potentially creating gaps in the time-series.
• Column names and the full schema of the primary catalog file (InSight_CV_Catalog.pickle) are not explicitly listed.

Provenance

Source

NASA's InSight mission sensors, processed by Keisuke Onodera (The University of Tokyo) and collaborators.

Collection Method

Observational data from the InSight lander's meteorological and seismic instruments, systematically cataloged for convective vortex events.

Time Range

Covers the operational period of the InSight mission on Mars; specific start and end dates are not provided.

Geography

Elysium Planitia, Mars (InSight landing site).