This nighttime IR image is of lava flows from Arsia Mons, the southernmost of the three Tharsis Montes. Lava flow surfaces are generally rough, and trap sand and dust with time. The addition of sand/dust will affect the nighttime IR appearance of the surface [dust cools quickly and is darker than slow cooling rocks in the nighttime IR]. The rough, rockier surface of young flows are brighter than the older dust covered flows.

Image information: IR instrument. Latitude -14, Longitude 247.4 East (112.6 West). 100 meter/pixel resolution.

Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, 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.