PIA05271: The Heat Below
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Exploration Rover (MER)
 Spacecraft:  Spirit
 Instrument:  Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer 
 Product Size:  2760 x 1072 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  JPL
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA05271.tif (8.88 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA05271.jpg (233.7 kB)

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Original Caption Released with Image:

This graph shows that the air 30 meters above the surface of Mars at Gusev Crater, Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's landing site, is hotter and fluctuates in temperature to a larger degree than the air higher up at 500 meters. These data, acquired by the rover's miniature thermal emission spectrometer, help scientists understand how the bottom layer of air closest to the surface behaves and interacts with global winds.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Cornell/ASU

Image Addition Date:
2004-02-12