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Kaiser Crater Dunes - False Color

June 23, 2021
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of the floor of Kaiser Crater.
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The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image. This false color image shows part of the floor of Kaiser Crater. Kaiser Crater is 207 km (129 miles) in diameter and is located in Noachis Terra west of Hellas Planitia. This sand dune field is one of several regions of sand dunes located in the southern part of the crater floor.

With enough wind and sand, sand dunes are formed. Dune morphology typically has a shallow slope on the side the wind is blowing from and a steep face on the other side. The lighter part of the dunes in this image are the steep slopes. Wind blows sand particles up the shallow slope and then the particles 'fall' off the crest of the dune down the steep side. With time, the constant wind will move the crest of the dune forward. Depending on the amount of available sand, dunes can grow to large heights and sizes. The dunes in this image are moving west - towards the left side of the image. Dark blue in this false color combination are typically basaltic sand.

Orbit Number: 83387 Latitude: -46.8031 Longitude: 19.7369 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-10-01 08:54

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

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

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