Multiple Instruments Used for Mars Carbon Estimate
Detailed Description
Multiple Instruments Used for Mars Carbon Estimate.
The left image of this pair presents data from the Thermal Emission imaging system onboard NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter. The color-coding indicates thermal inertia -- the physical property of how quickly a surface material heats up or cools off. Sand, for example (blue hues), cools off quicker after sundown than bedrock (red hues) does.
The right images of this pair presents the regional composition from the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars onboard the NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Green hues are consistent with carbonate-rich materials, while brown/yellow hues are olivine-bearing sands, and locations with purple hues are basaltic in composition. The gray-scale base map is a mosaic of daytime THEMIS infrared images.