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A dust devil is a small whirlwind, e.g., about ten meters or less in diameter, and generally about a kilometer in height at most. They are visible from dust they gather and send skyward, and are often seen in deserts due to the dry ground providing dust, and the opportunity to notice them from a wide area. Like tornados, they are whirling updrafts, but unlike tornados, they are not associated with storms, but generally occur in sunny weather, from warming of the atmosphere near the surface to the point that convection produces a strong updraft.
Regarding planetary science, large dust devils have been observed on Mars, offering atmospheric events that can be observed for analysis, and also offering a possible danger to landers and rovers, though they have been known to clear their solar panels of collected dust.