Martian Dust Storms Internship - Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO)

Dust plays an essential role for the Martian atmosphere, and dust storms range from a local to a global scale. The Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) have kept a nearly continuous daily global record of Mars since 1999, providing a unique opportunity to study Martian dust storms.

This internship will allow a student to collect data on dust storms by using satellite images. The intern will gather information about storm location, time, morphology, texture, and other characteristics. They’ll also be taught how to analyze the data, so that they can learn about the spatial temporal distributions of various types of dust storms. The overarching goal is to understand more about how Martian dust storms work, which can be very helpful in planning future Mars missions. The intern will get the opportunity to learn about research while contributing to this goal.

Apply Through: SOLAA

Application Deadline: Applications accepted on a rolling basis

Stipend: No stipend can be offered at this time

Term: 2-3 months

Eligibility: An undergraduate, graduate, or predoctoral student with the following attributes would benefit most from this internship.

• Strong interest in astronomy, Mars, and scientific research in general
• Any previous programming experience (such as with IDL), or a desire to learn programming language

Contact Email: hwang@cfa.harvard.edu

Contact Phone: 617-496-2268