Electrified dust creates electromagnetic bursts

Dust particles can become charged when they hit or rub against one another. This is true on Earth — in dust storms, volcanic eruptions, and industrial processes — as well as on other planets, including Mars.

Researchers want to understand how dust electrification influences terrestrial and extraterrestrial atmospheres, but this process has not been thoroughly studied in the lab. Abdelaal et al. demonstrated the direct generation of electromagnetic radiation caused by colliding dust particles.

The authors reproduced dust-laden, Earth-like atmospheric conditions and measured the resulting emissions with high temporal and spectral resolution using the Electromagnetic Analyzer (EMA), which was originally developed for the ExoMars 2022 mission. In doing so, they were able to link dust charging and discharging processes to electromagnetic signatures.

“This novel application of the EMA has enabled unprecedented sensitivity and accuracy in detecting dust-induced electromagnetic bursts,” said author Mohamad Abdelaal. “Our study bridges a long-standing gap between theoretical predictions, natural observations, and controlled experimentation. These findings establish dust-induced discharges as one of the important mechanisms shaping the electromagnetic environment of planetary atmospheres.”

The results could function as benchmarks to help interpret electromagnetic emissions from dusty environments on Earth. Monitoring emissions may yield early warnings of natural hazards, such as dust storms and volcanic plumes. The framework could also be extended to study dust-induced electromagnetic phenomena on other planets, which are both of scientific interest and a risk to spacecraft.

Next, the authors will extend their experimental setup to study Mars-like and Venus-like atmospheres. They also plan to combine lab and field measurements to refine models of dust electrification and assess its role in atmospheric processes.

Source: “Generation of electromagnetic radiation caused by the dynamics of charged dust particles in a simulated terrestrial environment,” by Mohamad E. Abdelaal, Igor V. Dokuchaev, Elena A. Malinovskaya, Yulia N. Izvekova, Andrey N. Lyash, Ilya A. Kuznetsov, Inna A. Shashkova, Andrey E. Dubov, Alexandra A. Kartasheva, Gennady G. Dolnikov, and Alexander V. Zakharov AIP Advances (2025). The article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0280942 .