Frost Patch and Dunes in a Northern Hemisphere Crater
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
Frost Patch and Dunes in a Northern Hemisphere Crater
PSP_001700_2505  Science Theme: Seasonal Processes
The bottom half of this observation shows a portion of a frost patch on a mound inside a northern hemisphere crater. This is the same frosted mound shown in this image. The frost patch has remained largely stable at least since the Viking era (late 1970s).

The bright frost region is bounded by a dune field on the northeast. Several sizes of dunes are visible. The size classes probably represent generations of dunes that formed under a variety of dominant wind conditions.

We can also see dunes and the frost boundary up-close. The frost is largely absent over the dunes, and is more stable over the ground that does not have dune-shaped landforms.



Written by: Kelly Kolb  (24 January 2007)
 
Acquisition date
06 December 2006

Local Mars time
15:14

Latitude (centered)
70.377°

Longitude (East)
103.397°

Spacecraft altitude
313.1 km (194.6 miles)

Original image scale range
63.5 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
9.3°

Phase angle
56.1°

Solar incidence angle
64°, with the Sun about 26° above the horizon

Solar longitude
146.4°, Northern Summer

For non-map projected images
North azimuth:  97°
Sub-solar azimuth:  330.2°
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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.