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Quantifying Sub-Meter Surface Heterogeneity on Mars Using Off-Axis Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) Data
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  • Benjamin E. McKeeby,
  • Michael S. Ramsey,
  • Christian Joseph Tai Udovicic,
  • Christopher W. Haberle,
  • Christopher Scott Edwards
Benjamin E. McKeeby
University of Pittsburgh

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Michael S. Ramsey
University of Pittsburgh
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Christian Joseph Tai Udovicic
Northern Arizona University
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Christopher W. Haberle
Arizona State University
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Christopher Scott Edwards
Northern Arizona University
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Abstract

Surface heterogeneities below the spatial resolution of thermal infrared (TIR) instruments result in anisothermality and produce emissivity spectra with negative slopes at longer wavelengths. Sloped spectra arise from an incorrect assumption of either a uniform surface temperature or a maximum emissivity during the temperature-emissivity separation of radiance data. Surface roughness and lateral mixing of differing sub-pixel surface units result in spectral slopes that are distinct, with magnitudes proportional to the degree of temperature mixing. Routine Off-nadir Targeted Observations (ROTO) of the Thermal Emission Imaging Spectrometer (THEMIS) are used here for the first time to investigate anisothermality below the spatial resolution of THEMIS. The southern flank of Apollinaris Mons and regions within the Medusae Fossae Formation are studied using THEMIS ROTO data acquired just after local sunset. At higher emission angles, differing relative proportions of rocky and unconsolidated surface units are observed. This produces a range of sloped TIR emission spectra dependent on the magnitude of temperature differences within a THEMIS pixel. Spectral slopes and wavelength-dependent brightness temperature differences are forward-modeled for a series of two-component surfaces of varying thermal inertia values. This creates a thermophysical model suggesting a local rock abundance 6 times greater than currently published results and four orders of magnitude more sensitive than those relying on nadir data High-resolution visible images of these regions indicate a mixture of surface units from boulders to dunes, providing credence to the model.