The Eastern Floor of Aram Chaos
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
The Eastern Floor of Aram Chaos
ESP_024266_1830  Science Theme: Aeolian Processes
This image is located within Aram Chaos near the outlet to Ares Valles. Aram Chaos is a 1,300-kilometer diameter depression from which enormous cataclysmic releases of ground water are thought to have exploded onto the surface of Mars. The water then flowed northwards across the southern highlands, helping to carve the approximately 2,000-kilometer long Ares Valles outflow channel system.

A variety of landforms, terrain units and dune fields are visible in this image. In the enhanced color cutout, this portion of Aram Chaos is seen to be composed of isolated hills and eroding mesas, surrounded by a mantle of dark-toned eroded material. A variety of dunes and light-toned units fill the lower elevations between upland terrains.

This is one of many regions where the HiRISE team is obtaining repeat imaging to study active dune field movements. The interplay between the dunes, eroded landforms and the various other light and dark-toned materials provides clues to the relative ages of the geologic processes and the nature of the materials.

Written by: Ginny Gulick  (2 November 2011)

This is a stereo pair with ESP_023910_1830.
 
Acquisition date
30 September 2011

Local Mars time
14:12

Latitude (centered)
3.112°

Longitude (East)
340.169°

Spacecraft altitude
274.2 km (170.4 miles)

Original image scale range
30.4 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~91 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
25 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
26.8°

Phase angle
59.7°

Solar incidence angle
33°, with the Sun about 57° above the horizon

Solar longitude
8.2°, Northern Spring

For non-map projected images
North azimuth:  97°
Sub-solar azimuth:  7.9°
JPEG
Black and white
map projected  non-map

IRB color
map projected  non-map

Merged IRB
map projected

Merged RGB
map projected

RGB color
non-map projected

JP2
Black and white
map-projected   (910MB)

IRB color
map-projected   (500MB)

JP2 EXTRAS
Black and white
map-projected  (449MB)
non-map           (348MB)

IRB color
map projected  (136MB)
non-map           (313MB)

Merged IRB
map projected  (207MB)

Merged RGB
map-projected  (211MB)

RGB color
non map           (304MB)
ANAGLYPHS
Map-projected, reduced-resolution
Full resolution JP2 download
Anaglyph details page

DIGITAL TERRAIN MODEL (DTM)
DTM details page

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
B&W label
Color label
Merged IRB label
Merged RGB label
EDR products
HiView

NB
IRB: infrared-red-blue
RGB: red-green-blue
About color products (PDF)

Black & white is 5 km across; enhanced color about 1 km
For scale, use JPEG/JP2 black & white map-projected images

USAGE POLICY
All of the images produced by HiRISE and accessible on this site are within the public domain: there are no restrictions on their usage by anyone in the public, including news or science organizations. We do ask for a credit line where possible:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona

POSTSCRIPT
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona.