A Possible Landing Site in Aram Dorsum for the ExoMars Rover
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
A Possible Landing Site in Aram Dorsum for the ExoMars Rover
ESP_037030_1880  Science Theme: 
One of the important roles of HiRISE is to take high resolution images of potential landing sites for future landing missions.

This image is of an area called Aram Dorsum (also known by its old name, Oxia Palus) that has been suggested for the 2018/2020 ExoMars Rover, because it contains an ancient, exhumed alluvial system.

Imaging is needed both to check for boulder fields and other obstacles, as well as checking the scientific justification for choosing a site. This image is one part of what we call a stereo observation, where taking a view at a different angle from another orbit of the same areas will allow a 3D model (a digital terrain model) to be prepared. With this model, accurate measurements of slopes can then be made. Although it won't show the exhumed alluvial system, images of the area are needed to characterize the landing site.

The main image of the Aram Dorsum site contains a relatively fresh, 150-meter diameter impact crater with associated boulders. This small (1 kilometer square) part also shows signs of erosion into an overlying plateau, plus recent formation of some transverse aeolian ridges (called TARs) within the resulting valley. Overall, however, the site has relatively few obstacles for a lander.

Written by: John Bridges (audio: Tre Gibbs)  (27 August 2014)

This is a stereo pair with ESP_036740_1880.
 
Acquisition date
20 June 2014

Local Mars time
15:30

Latitude (centered)
7.791°

Longitude (East)
348.520°

Spacecraft altitude
275.0 km (170.9 miles)

Original image scale range
29.3 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~88 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
25 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
20.6°

Phase angle
71.9°

Solar incidence angle
52°, with the Sun about 38° above the horizon

Solar longitude
149.0°, Northern Summer

For non-map projected images
North azimuth:  97°
Sub-solar azimuth:  16.6°
JPEG
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map projected  non-map

IRB color
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Merged IRB
map projected

Merged RGB
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RGB color
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JP2
Black and white
map-projected   (1099MB)

IRB color
map-projected   (624MB)

JP2 EXTRAS
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map-projected  (590MB)
non-map           (483MB)

IRB color
map projected  (201MB)
non-map           (443MB)

Merged IRB
map projected  (251MB)

Merged RGB
map-projected  (258MB)

RGB color
non map           (410MB)
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.