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Polar Winds

July 1, 2010
North polar troughs are the typical location to see evidence of strong polar surface winds. This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey shows 'streamers' of clouds created by catabatic winds.
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North polar troughs are the typical location to see evidence of strong polar surface winds. This VIS image shows 'streamers' of clouds created by catabatic winds. Catabatic winds are created by cold air sinking at the pole and then speeding along the surface towards the edge of the polar cap. When the wind enters troughs the wind regime changes from laminar flow to choatic and clouds of ice particles or dust are visible.

Orbit Number: 37100 Latitude: 82.9725 Longitude: 97.2613 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-04-26 03:29

Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, 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.

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