Numerical model of dust ejection induced by meteoroid impacts

A model of dust ejection induced by meteoroid impacts is described, and used to study the formation of dust clouds resulting from the impacts of meter-sized cosmic bodies on the Martian surface. Numerical results show that the size of the dust clouds equals approximately a thousandfold impactor size, and the dust mass exceeds the meteoroid mass by a factor of 10–100 depending on ejecta size distribution. The clouds are opaque to incident solar radiation.