Crater Ejecta DCS (Released 2 August 2004)

On this image you can see two infrared frames of the same area on Mars.One of the images (in black and white) represents a single wavelength or band of the THEMIS IR instrument, while the other image (in false color) represents 3 different bands. The image with the various colors was created with a technique called Decorrelation Stretch (DCS). In this technique individual bands of the THEMIS IR instrument are stretched to better show compositional variations throughout the whole range. After the bands are stretched they are overlayed on one another and colors are assigned to each band. This makes up the colors in the image.The ejecta from the crater (located just above the image) covers the high thermal inertia units in the region. The valley at the top of the image displays a wind streak on the downwind side of the image. This is either due to material escaping from the valley or the wind scouring the surface clean.