Mars' radio spectrum and the flying dust.

Mars' radio spectrum at centimeter wavelengths is produced by thermal radiation from the surface and sub-surface. Observations at 2.8 cm made in the 1975 and 1978 show variations of its radio brightness as a function of longitude on the planet (Doherty et al. , ApJ 233, 1979). In addition, an overall increase in the radio brightness observed in 1978 just at the start of a global dust storm. Recent theoretical studies show that radio emission can be produced by corona discharges between dust particles, as these become charged through triboelectric processes in dust lifting/transportation events (Renno et al. GLR v.30, 2003). In this work we explore the hypothesis that changes in Mars' radio emission are be linked to changed in the atmospheric dust content.