Dust Devils

Dust Devils are like miniature tornadoes and can be as wide as a football field with winds up to 60 mph. They are created by wind that swirls around a column of warm rising air. Recently researchers have unexpectedly found that dust devils on Earth have large electric fields exceeding 4,000 volts per meter. Researchers claim, that if Martian dust devils are highly electrified, this may interfere with space suits, equipment, and radio communications. In the future, NASA could equip a landing craft with an instrument to detect a dust devil's electric and magnetic field.