At https://phys.org/print435918054.html … it seems like all the juicy research turns up months after space missions – and so it is with Mars. A study published in Nature Astronomy used data from NASAs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and suggests dust storms on Mars have a direct link with gases escaping from the top of the atmosphere. The inference is that a wetter warmer ancient Mars lost its liquid volatiles by the same route – launched out of the atmosphere. The study claims to have found evidence that water vapour is carried up by the air mass and rises with Mars dust – including any water that had been hidden below the surface of Mars. The Hubble Telescope detected water vapour in Mars middle atmosphere – and dust storms are projected to be responsible for enhancing the process.
See full article at DOI:10.1038/s41550-017-0353-4 … but see also www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php (January 2018) – which was in my mailbox via the NASA newsletter. Here we are told rising air during dust storms on Mars hoists water vapour high into the atmosphere. Regional and smaller dust storms also uplift water – but to a lesser degree. The next major dust storm is eagerly awaited by researchers in order to confirm their theory.