HiRISE | Following the Tracks (ESP_058427

NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona

Following the Tracks
ESP_058427_1080 Science Theme: Polar Geology

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Dust devils on Mars often create long, dark markings where they pull a thin coat of dust off the surface. This image shows a cluster of these tracks on the flat ground below the south polar layered deposits, but none on the layers themselves.

This tells us that either dust devils do not cross the layers, or they do not leave a track there. There are several possible reasons for this. For instance, the dust might be thick enough that the vortex of the dust devil doesn’t expose darker material from underneath the surface.

Written by: Colin Dundas (audio: Tre Gibbs) (18 February 2019)

Acquisition date
13 January 2019

Local Mars time
14:33

Latitude (centered)
-71.623°

Longitude (East)
148.081°

Spacecraft altitude
249.0 km (154.7 miles)

Original image scale range
49.9 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) so objects ~150 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
50 cm/pixel

Map projection
Polarstereographic

Emission angle
1.4°

Phase angle
60.7°

Solar incidence angle
61°, with the Sun about 29° above the horizon

Solar longitude
323.2°, Northern Winter

For non-map projected images
North azimuth: 100°
Sub-solar azimuth: 55.9°

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   (200MB)

IRB color
map-projected   (112MB)

JP2 EXTRAS
Black and white
map-projected (133MB)
non-map           (133MB)

IRB color
map projected (56MB)
non-map           (120MB)

Merged IRB
map projected (205MB)

Merged RGB
map-projected (194MB)

RGB color
non map           (114MB)

BONUS
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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.