Wind Streaks

Scaled Image

Image Credit: NASA/JPL/ASU

About this image

The atmosphere of Mars is a dynamic system. Water-ice clouds, fog, and hazes can make imaging the surface from space difficult. Dust storms can grow from local disturbances to global sizes, through which imaging is impossible. Seasonal temperature changes are the usual drivers in cloud and dust storm development and growth. Eons of atmospheric dust storm activity has left its mark on the surface of Mars. Dust carried aloft by the wind has settled out on every available surface; sand dunes have been created and moved by centuries of wind; and the effect of continual sand-blasting has modified many regions of Mars, creating yardangs and other unusual surface forms. Windstreaks are features caused by the interaction of wind and topographic landforms. The raised rims and bowls of impact craters causes a complex interaction such that the wind vortex in the lee of the crater can both scour away the surface dust and deposit it back in the center of the lee. If you look closely, you will see evidence of this in a darker rim enclosing a brighter interior.

Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images. 

Context

Image ID: 
V01433010 (View data in Mars Image Explorer)
6.8506
69.3803
1433
2002-04-11 07:11
Mon, 2004-07-12
VIS
1024 pixels (18 km)
3648 pixels (65 km)
0.017861 km/pixel
0.017991 km/pixel

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