NASA Mars Odyssey THEMIS Image: Dalmatian Terrain
 Image Context:  Context image credit: NASA/Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) Team [ Find on map: Javascript version ] [ Find on map: CGI version ] An example of dalmatian terrain near the south pole. The bright material is polar ice and the dark spots dark sands that are appearing in depressions where the ice has defrosted to reveal underlying material. Interestingly, there is an almost continuous dark band around the edges of many of the depressions. This could be a clue to the nature of the sand deposits in polar regions. The sand forms dunes in a range of sizes and shapes. Near the top of the image the dunes shrink until they are smaller than the 18m pixels of the THEMIS camera and seem to disappear into the surrounding ice. [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.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Arizona State University | ||||||||||||||||||||
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