近日，法国图卢兹大学教授Baptiste Chide团队报道了火星尘埃事件中摩擦放电的探测。该研究于2025年11月26日发表在《自然》杂志上。

闪电是行星大气中最富能量的电活动现象之一，不仅在地球上，还在土星和木星上都有文献记载的观测记录。火星大气中虽然长期存在电活动的猜测，但从未被直接证实。火星多尘的大气层经历着从风吹尘沙、数十米至百米级尘卷风，到千公里级沙尘暴的风蚀作用；在地球上，沙漠中的此类现象可通过摩擦生电产生电场。因此，火星上形成电场的预测由来已久，但至今未有火星大气电活动的实测数据。

研究组报告了通过毅力号火星车搭载的SuperCam麦克风，首次在火星实地探测到摩擦放电现象。这些事件通过其特有的电学和声学特征被识别，两年间共记录55次，通常与尘卷风和沙尘暴对流锋面相关。这些意外获得的证据表明，火星表面附近的电场强度可达到大气击穿阈值（预测值为数十千伏每米量级）。这种电活动可能影响尘埃运动，并形成具有强氧化能力的电化学环境，进而影响有机分子的保存。该实地观测证据对火星表面化学过程、宜居性评估以及载人探测任务均具有重要意义。

附：英文原文

Title: Detection of triboelectric discharges during dust events on Mars

Author: Chide, Baptiste, Lorenz, Ralph D., Montmessin, Franck, Maurice, Sylvestre, Parot, Yann, Hueso, Ricardo, Martinez, German, Vicente-Retortillo, Alvaro, Jacob, Xavier, Lemmon, Mark, Dubois, Bruno, Meslin, Pierre-Yves, Newman, Claire, Bertrand, Tanguy, Deprez, Grgoire, Toledo, Daniel, Snchez-Lavega, Agustin, Cousin, Agns, Wiens, Roger C.

Issue&Volume: 2025-11-26

Abstract: Lightning is among the most energetic manifestation of electrical activity in planetary atmospheres, with documented observations not only on Earth but also on Saturn and Jupiter1. On Mars, the existence of electrical activity has long been suspected2,3 but never directly demonstrated. The dusty atmosphere of Mars undergoes aeolian processes, ranging from wind-blown dust and sand, metre-to-hundred-metre-sized dust devils to thousand-kilometre-scale dust storms4, which, in Earth’s deserts, can become electrified through triboelectric charging5,6,7. For this reason, electric fields have been predicted to build up on Mars8,9,10, but with no measurement of Martian atmospheric electrical activity so far. Here we report in situ detections of triboelectric discharges, identified by their electrical and acoustic signatures captured by the SuperCam microphone aboard the Perseverance rover11,12. Fifty-five events have been detected over two Martian years, usually associated with dust devils and dust storm convective fronts. These serendipitous observations demonstrate that Martian electric fields can reach the breakdown threshold of the near-surface atmosphere of Mars, predicted to be on the order of several tens of kVm1. Such electrical activity could affect dust dynamics13,14 and potentially fuel a reactive electrochemical environment enhancing the oxidizing capacity of the atmosphere, with consequences for the preservation of organic molecules15,16. This in situ evidence may have implications for surface chemistry, habitability and human exploration.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09736-y

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09736-y