yellow clouds on mars have been observed since the 1870s, which were windblown sand or dust. during the 1920s, the range of martian surface temperature was measured; it ranged from 85 to 7 oc. the planetary atmosphere was found to be arid with only traces of oxygen and water. in 1947, gerard kuiper showed that the thin martian atmosphere contained extensive carbon dioxide; roughly double the quantity found in earth's atmosphere. the first standard naming of mars surface features was set in 1960 by the international astronomical union.