Mars Odyssey THEMIS Image: Martian Dunes

This collage of six images shows examples of the daytime temperature patterns of martian dunes seen by the THEMIS infrared camera. The dunes can be seen in this daytime image because of the temperature differences between the sunlit (warm and bright) and shadowed (cold and dark) slopes of the dunes. The temperatures in each image vary, but typically range from approximately -35 to -15 deg C. Each image covers an area approximately 32 by 32 km in size, and was acquired using the THEMIS infrared Band 9 centered at 12.6 µm. Clockwise from the upper left, these images are: (a) Russel crater. 54 deg S; 13 deg E. Portion of THEMIS image I00824002, (b) Kaiser crater. 45 deg S; 19 deg E. Portion of THEMIS image I01398006; (c) Rabe crater. 43 deg S; 35 deg E. Portion of THEMIS image I01747003, (d) 22 deg N; 66 deg E. Portion of THEMIS image I01583009, (e) Proctor crater. 47 degS; 30 deg E. Portion of THEMIS image I01485002, (f) 61 deg S; 201 deg E. Portion of THEMIS image I01479002.

[Source: ASU THEMIS Science Team]

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA’s Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Arizona State University