Summer Sand Dunes
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
Summer Sand Dunes
ESP_044088_2640  Science Theme: Seasonal Processes
Mars’ permanent north polar cap is ringed by sand dunes. In the winter and spring the dunes are covered by a seasonal cap of dry ice.

Here, we see the dark dunes in the summer, bare of seasonal frost. Two classic barchan dunes march across the rugged terrain. The long dark dune is crossing transverse aeolian ridges probably formed in a previous climate regime.

Written by: Candy Hansen (narration: Tre Gibbs)  (24 February 2016)
 
Acquisition date
22 December 2015

Local Mars time
13:06

Latitude (centered)
83.726°

Longitude (East)
235.676°

Spacecraft altitude
316.4 km (196.6 miles)

Original image scale range
63.7 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) so objects ~191 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
50 cm/pixel

Map projection
Polarstereographic

Emission angle
5.7°

Phase angle
63.3°

Solar incidence angle
59°, with the Sun about 31° above the horizon

Solar longitude
85.1°, Northern Spring

For non-map projected images
North azimuth:  120°
Sub-solar azimuth:  317.4°
JPEG
Black and white
map projected  non-map

IRB color
map projected  non-map

Merged IRB
map projected

Merged RGB
map projected

RGB color
non-map projected

JP2
Black and white
map-projected   (91MB)

IRB color
map-projected   (59MB)

JP2 EXTRAS
Black and white
map-projected  (43MB)
non-map           (36MB)

IRB color
map projected  (12MB)
non-map           (48MB)

Merged IRB
map projected  (97MB)

Merged RGB
map-projected  (89MB)

RGB color
non map           (46MB)
ANAGLYPHS
Map-projected, reduced-resolution
Full resolution JP2 download
Anaglyph details page

BONUS
4K (TIFF)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
B&W label
Color label
Merged IRB label
Merged RGB label
EDR products
HiView

NB
IRB: infrared-red-blue
RGB: red-green-blue
About color products (PDF)

Black & white is 5 km across; enhanced color about 1 km
For scale, use JPEG/JP2 black & white map-projected images

USAGE POLICY
All of the images produced by HiRISE and accessible on this site are within the public domain: there are no restrictions on their usage by anyone in the public, including news or science organizations. We do ask for a credit line where possible:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona

POSTSCRIPT
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. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona.