Dust devil

A dust devil is a small, rotating column of air that lifts dust and debris, usually forming over heated ground in calm conditions.

Convective boundary layer: The lowest atmospheric layer, where surface heating drives turbulent vertical mixing. Dust devils form within this layer as heated ground drives rising air.
Mars dust devil: A rotating Martian vortex that lifts surface dust, sometimes leaving tracks visible from orbit. Mars provides especially clear evidence of dust-devil activity through persistent surface tracks.
Atmospheric dust: Fine mineral particles suspended in a planet’s atmosphere. Dust devils lift particles into the air and contribute to atmospheric dust loading.
Tornado: A violently rotating column of air extending from a thunderstorm to the ground. Unlike dust devils, tornadoes are connected to thunderstorms and can produce far stronger winds.
Thermal: A rising column of warm air produced when the ground heats the air above it. A strong thermal can provide the updraft that organizes into a dust devil.
Arizona dust devil: A dust devil observed in Arizona, a region with frequent vortex activity over hot, dry terrain. Arizona field studies document dust devils in conditions favorable to their formation.
Aeolian processes: The erosion, transport, and deposition of material by wind. Dust devils are localized agents of wind-driven sediment transport.
Landspout: A tornado-like vortex that forms beneath a growing cloud without a pre-existing storm-scale mesocyclone. Both can arise from surface vorticity, but landspouts form beneath developing thunderstorms.
Vorticity: A measure of the local rotation of a fluid around an axis. Existing vorticity can be stretched by an updraft into faster rotation.
Dust devil track: A narrow surface mark left when a dust devil removes or redistributes dust. Tracks reveal where vortices passed, including on the Martian surface.

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