Artist's concept shows NASA's InSight lander with its instruments deployed on the Martian surface. Several sensors used for studying Martian weather are visible on its deck, including the inlet for an air pressure sensor and the east- and west-facing weather sensor booms. Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech

As in any travel planning, booking a visit to Elysium Planitia, an equatorial plain on Mars, or the planet’s Columbia Hills inside the Gusev crater, requires preparation in packing essentials. Know the weather at a given Martian destination and optimize gear and clothing prep with daily reports generated by NASA’s InSight lander.

Winter is currently underway at the craft’s location just north of the Martian equator. Daily and seasonal temperature, wind and air pressure data will be recorded over the next two years by means of the Auxiliary Payload Subsystem sensors.

Continuous collection of weather data allows scientists to detect sources of "noise" that could influence readings from the lander's seismometer and heat flow probe, its main instruments. Both are affected by Mars' extreme temperature swings. The Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) seismometer documents air pressure changes and winds responsible for movements that could mask actual marsquakes. A magnetometer under the lander’s deck will measure changes in the local magnetic field that could also influence SEIS.

In addition to revealing when strong winds could interfere with small seismic signals, the sensors and cameras could also broaden understanding of wind regimes responsible for dune formation and dust storm occurrence. Air pressure sensors can shed light on the evolution of the low-pressure whirlwinds known as dust devils.