HiRISE | Dunes in Mars' Polar Erg (ESP_018742

NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Dunes in Mars' Polar Erg
ESP_018742_2565 Science Theme: Mass Wasting Processes

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Near the North pole of Mars, the landscape is dominated by sand dunes forming a massive erg (sand sea), much like parts of the Sahara Desert on Earth. In parts of the erg, sand is abundant and covers the entire surface. Here near the edge, sand is in shorter supply and the dunes are separated by areas of lighter-toned soil.

Many dunes on Mars are simple crescent-shaped dunes called barchans, which commonly form in sand-starved areas. A very long ridge oriented at a right angle to the wind is called a transverse dune. Here many of the dunes are barchan-like, but they have partially coalesced and deformed into longer, straighter ridges and other, more complex forms. This suggests a more complex interaction between wind and sand.

Written by: Colin Dundas (1 September 2010)

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Acquisition date:	26 July 2010	Local Mars time:	2:38 PM
Latitude (centered):	76.5 degrees	Longitude (East):	297.5 degrees
Range to target site:	318.7 km (199.2 miles)	Original image scale range:	63.8 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) so objects ~191 cm across are resolved
Map projected scale:	50 cm/pixel	Map projection:	POLAR STEREOGRAPHIC
Emission angle:	2.3 degrees	Phase angle:	61.3 degrees
Solar incidence angle:	59 degrees, with the Sun about 31 degrees above the horizon	Solar longitude:	124.0 degrees, Northern Summer
For non-map projected products:
North azimuth:	103 degrees	Sub-solar azimuth:	326.3 degrees
For map-projected products
North azimuth:	332.5 degrees	Sub solar azimuth:	196.6 degrees

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For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov. 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. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona. The image data were processed using the U.S. Geological Survey’s ISIS3 software.