Status Report

Mars Odyssey THEMIS Image: Cerberus Wind Streaks

By SpaceRef Editor
May 6, 2002
Filed under , ,


Medium image for 20020506a
Image Context:
Context image for 20020506a
Context image credit: NASA/Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) Team


As described in a previous caption (4/24/02), Cerberus is a dark region
on Mars that has shrunk down from a continuous length of about 1000 km
to roughly three discontinuous spots a few 100 kms in length in less
than 20 years. There are two competing processes at work in the
Cerberus region that produce the bright and dark features seen in this
THEMIS image. Bright dust settles out of the atmosphere, especially
after global dust storms, depositing a layer just thick enough to
brighten the dark surfaces. Deposition occurs preferentially in the low
wind “shadow zones” within craters and downwind of crater rims,
producing the bright streaks. The direction of the streaks clearly
indicates that the dominant winds come from the northeast. Dust
deposition would completely blot out the dark areas if it were not for
the action of wind-blown sand grains scouring the surface and lifting
the dust back into the atmosphere. Again, the shadow zones are
protected from the blowing sand, preserving the bright layer of dust.
Also visible in this image are lava flow features extending from the
flanks of the huge Elysium volcanoes to the northwest. Two shallow
channels and a raised flow lobe are just barely discernable. The lava
channel in the middle of the image crosses the boundary of the bright
and dark surfaces without any obvious change in its morphology. This
demonstrates that the bright dust layer is very thin in this location,
perhaps as little as a few millimeters.

[Source: ASU THEMIS Science Team]




Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.


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



[ Show Full-Size Image (GIF) ] [ Show Full-Size Image (JPG) ]
[ Show Full-Size Image (PNG) ] [ Show Full-Size Image (TIF) ]











ParameterValue ParameterValue
Latitude15.1 &nbsp InstrumentVIS
Longitude201.2W (158.8E) &nbsp Resolution (m)19
Image Size (pixels)3025×1231 &nbsp Image Size (km)57.5×23.4

SpaceRef staff editor.