Thawing Richardson Crater Dunes
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
Thawing Richardson Crater Dunes
ESP_012774_1080  Science Theme: Seasonal Processes
This image shows a portion of the dunes that fill Richardson Crater, a 55 kilometer diameter crater in the south polar region of Mars and a frequent repeat target for the HiRISE camera.

During southern fall and winter, these dunes are coated with seasonal carbon dioxide frost, which then sublimates (goes directly from a solid to a gas) into the atmosphere as the temperature rises in spring and summer.

The enhanced-color cutout shows a boundary between dunes that are mostly covered with seasonal frost and dunes that have mostly thawed. The color of many dunes on Mars can change dramatically depending on the season. Frost tends to be very bright in HiRISE images, particularly in the blue-green filter, but dune sand itself is very dark.

The dark streaks and spots on the frost-covered regions represent areas that are in the process of thawing out. In some areas, the frost has sublimated away. In others, a small avalanche of sand or dust may have spilled on top of the frost. Some of them may also be patches of coarse-grained ice that are relatively clear so that we can see the sand below. As spring advances toward summer in the south on Mars, these dunes continue to appear darker and more red to HiRISE.

Dunes near the polar regions of Mars are studied both by scientists who are interested in the effects of this seasonal cycle of thawing and frosting over, and by scientists who wait for the frost to disappear so that they can study the dunes themselves.

Written by: Nicole Baugh  (13 May 2009)
 
Acquisition date
17 April 2009

Local Mars time
15:42

Latitude (centered)
-72.007°

Longitude (East)
179.409°

Spacecraft altitude
250.3 km (155.5 miles)

Original image scale range
50.5 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) so objects ~152 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
50 cm/pixel

Map projection
Polarstereographic

Emission angle
8.6°

Phase angle
64.8°

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

Solar longitude
248.8°, Northern Autumn

For non-map projected images
North azimuth:  98°
Sub-solar azimuth:  34.0°
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non-map           (141MB)

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non-map           (121MB)

Merged IRB
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RGB color
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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

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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.