HiRISE | The Changing Sands (ESP_043617

NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona

The Changing Sands
ESP_043617_1885 Science Theme: Aeolian Processes

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One benefit of MRO’s extended missions is the chance to see landscapes change over time.

These barchan sand dunes are a case in point: these have been imaged at least five times already, and each time, a bit more movement is revealed.

The steeply-dipping slip faces (where sand slides down after it gets piled up on the dunes’ crests) indicate the direction of the wind, although this particular dune field seems to show *two* converging wind directions.

Written by: Kirby Runyon (narration: Tre Gibbs) (27 January 2016)

Acquisition date
16 November 2015

Local Mars time
15:01

Latitude (centered)
8.514°

Longitude (East)
169.211°

Spacecraft altitude
276.4 km (171.8 miles)

Original image scale range
27.9 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~84 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
25 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
4.7°

Phase angle
41.9°

Solar incidence angle
46°, with the Sun about 44° above the horizon

Solar longitude
69.0°, Northern Spring

For non-map projected images
North azimuth: 97°
Sub-solar azimuth: 30.2°

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   (549MB)

IRB color
map-projected   (321MB)

JP2 EXTRAS
Black and white
map-projected (255MB)
non-map           (280MB)

IRB color
map projected (89MB)
non-map           (262MB)

Merged IRB
map projected (132MB)

Merged RGB
map-projected (126MB)

RGB color
non map           (261MB)

BONUS
4K (TIFF)

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.