HiRISE | Defrosting Dunes (ESP_082672

NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona

Defrosting Dunes
ESP_082672_1180 Science Theme: Aeolian Processes

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This image shows a field a sand dunes in the Martian springtime while the seasonal carbon dioxide frost is sublimating into the air. This sublimation process is not at all uniform, instead creating a pattern of dark spots.

In addition, the inter-dune areas are also striking, with bright frost persisting in the troughs of polygons. Our enhanced-color cutout is centered on a brownish-colored inter-dune area.

Written by: Alfred McEwen (25 April 2024)

Acquisition date
16 March 2024

Local Mars time
16:01

Latitude (centered)
-61.468°

Longitude (East)
342.665°

Spacecraft altitude
251.5 km (156.3 miles)

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

Map projected scale
50 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
5.7°

Phase angle
68.1°

Solar incidence angle
63°, with the Sun about 27° above the horizon

Solar longitude
217.6°, Northern Autumn

For non-map projected images
North azimuth: 97°
Sub-solar azimuth: 25.8°

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   (164MB)

IRB color
map-projected   (51MB)

JP2 EXTRAS
Black and white
map-projected (63MB)
non-map           (113MB)

IRB color
map projected (18MB)
non-map           (54MB)

Merged IRB
map projected (155MB)

Merged RGB
map-projected (148MB)

RGB color
non map           (49MB)

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.