Dune Change Detection in Mawrth Vallis
HiRISE PICTURE OF THE DAY: 17 APRIL 2024

The Dunes of Change

The Mars Orbiter Camera imaged these dunes in 2000, so now we can learn what a multi-decade dune movement average is by taking a new observation to create a MOC-HiRISE temporal pair. With MOC providing a long baseline to newer HiRISE images, we can build up global averages of the effects of wind on the environment. Two decades is long enough that the dunes will have moved noticeably between MOC and HiRISE.



HiRISE Instrument News
Since July 23, 2023, HiRISE observations have lacked data from the RED4 CCD due to a hardware issue, creating a gap in the middle of image products and reducing the color swath to 1 CCD width. We are investigating the hardware issue and may be able to acquire some RED4 data in the future.

Icy Cliffs at the Martian North Pole
In the spring, we also sometimes see avalanches pouring down these cliff faces and this image was taken to search for more of them.