The feature shown here elicited gasps of excitement among the MOC Operations Staff when it was received in early April 2001. Mars Orbiter Camera on Mars Global Surveyor sees dust devil on Red Planet. The feature is a dust devil. Dust devils are spinning, columnar vortices of wind that move across the landscape, pick up dust, and look somewhat like miniature tornadoes.
Dust devils are a common occurrence in dry and desert landscapes on Earth as well as Mars.
When this dust devil was spied in Amazonis Planitia on April 10th, the MOC was looking straight down. Usually when the camera is looking down the dust devil will appear as a circular, fuzzy patch with a straight shadow indicating its columnar shape. A thin, light-toned track has been left by the dust devil as it moved eastward across the landscape. Usually, such tracks are darker than the surroundings, in this case the light tone might indicate that the dust being removed by the passing dust devil is darker than the surface underneath the thin veneer of dust. Dust devils most typically form when the ground heats up during the day, warming the air immediately above the surface.