@article{92a87316fc49421193e1a7df8564d420,
title = "THEMIS-VIS Investigations of Sand at Gale Crater",
abstract = "Gale crater is the landing site of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, Curiosity. Here we present Thermal Emission Imaging System Visible Imaging Subsystem (THEMIS-VIS) mosaics in gray scale and in false color of Gale crater. We use these data products, in addition to THEMIS thermal infrared decorrelation stretch (DCS) mosaics, thermal inertia derivations, and near-infrared spectra to investigate the MSL traverse area and sand across Gale crater. We identified several THEMIS-VIS color units in the MSL traverse area that may correlate to the amount of sand cover that is present on each unit. This suggests that THEMIS-VIS color is extremely useful in identifying dark basaltic sand, which appears as blue in THEMIS-VIS false color images. We test this hypothesis by identifying small (~several pixels) blue patches on the southeast side of the central mound in Gale crater and confirming that they are patches of sand in High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) images. Sand dunes on the crater floor exhibit variations in all data sets utilized in this study, with the Bagnold dunes and the western sand sea exhibiting the most notable differences. We propose that these differences are the result of a thin layer of dust that covers the western sand sea, although we do not rule out possible effects from grain size sorting.",
keywords = "Gale crater, Mars, color mosaic, sand",
author = "Bennett, {Kristen A.} and Hill, {Jonathon R.} and Murray, {Kimberly C.} and Edwards, {Christopher S.} and James Bell and Philip Christensen",
note = "Funding Information: This research has made use of the USGS Integrated Software for Imagers and Spectrometers (ISIS). Adobe{\textregistered} Photoshop{\textregistered} is either a registered trademark or trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. We greatly appreciate the thoughtful reviews from Matthew Chojnacki and an anonymous reviewer that improved this manuscript. We would also like to thank the Mars Odyssey team, and specifically the THEMIS targeting team. This research was funded by Christopher Edwards{\textquoteright} grants from the MSL Participating Scientist program and the 2001 Mars Odyssey THEMIS instrument. Data used in this work was obtained from the NASA Planetary Data System. Additional reduced data products are available from Kristen Bennett (kbennett@usgs.gov); model ing and data analysis tools are freely available (http://krc.mars.asu.edu and http://davinci.asu.edu). Funding Information: This research has made use of the USGS Integrated Software for Imagers and Spectrometers (ISIS). Adobe? Photoshop? is either a registered trademark or trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. We greatly appreciate the thoughtful reviews from Matthew Chojnacki and an anonymous reviewer that improved this manuscript. We would also like to thank the Mars Odyssey team, and specifically the THEMIS targeting team. This research was funded by Christopher Edwards' grants from the MSL Participating Scientist program and the 2001 Mars Odyssey THEMIS instrument. Data used in this work was obtained from the NASA Planetary Data System. Additional reduced data products are available from Kristen Bennett (kbennett@usgs.gov); modeling and data analysis tools are freely available (http://krc.mars.asu.edu and http://davinci.asu.edu). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright}2018. The Authors.",
year = "2018",
month = aug,
doi = "10.1029/2018EA000380",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "5",
pages = "352--363",
journal = "Earth and Space Science",
issn = "2333-5084",
publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd",
number = "8",
}