Revealing Active Mars with HiRISE Digital Terrain Models

Many discoveries of active surface processes on Mars have been made due to the availability of repeat high-resolution images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. HiRISE stereo images are used to make digital terrain models (DTMs) and orthorectified images (orthoimages). HiRISE DTMs and orthoimage time series have been crucial for advancing the study of active processes such as recurring slope lineae, dune migration, gully activity, and polar processes. We describe the process of making HiRISE DTMs, orthoimage time series, DTM mosaics, and the difference of DTMs, specifically using the ISIS/SOCET Set workflow. HiRISE DTMs are produced at a 1 and 2 m ground sample distance, with a corresponding estimated vertical precision of tens of cm and ∼1 m, respectively. To date, more than 6000 stereo pairs have been acquired by HiRISE and, of these, more than 800 DTMs and 2700 orthoimages have been produced and made available to the public via the Planetary Data System. The intended audiences of this paper are producers, as well as users, of HiRISE DTMs and orthoimages. We discuss the factors that determine the effective resolution, as well as the quality, precision, and accuracy of HiRISE DTMs, and provide examples of their use in time series analyses of active surface processes on Mars.

Widespread Megaripple Activity Across the North Polar Ergs of Mars

The most expansive dune fields on Mars surround the northern polar cap where various aeolian bedform classes are modified by wind and ice. The morphology and dynamics of these ripples, intermediate-scale bedforms (termed megaripples and Transverse Aeolian Ridges [TARs]), and sand dunes reflect information regarding regional boundary conditions. We found that populations of polar megaripples and larger TARs are distinct in terms of their morphology, spatial distribution, and mobility. Whereas regionally restricted TARs appeared degraded and static in long-baseline observations, polar megaripples were not only widespread but migrating at relatively high rates (0.13 ± 0.03 m/Earth year) and possibly more active than other regions on Mars. This high level of activity is somewhat surprising since there is limited seasonality for aeolian transport due to surficial frost and ice during the latter half of the martian year. A comprehensive analysis of an Olympia Cavi dune field estimated that the advancement of megaripples, ripples, and dunes avalanches accounted for ~1%, ~10%, and ~100%, respectively, of the total aeolian system's sand fluxes. This included dark-toned ripples that migrated the average equivalent of 9.6 ± 6 m/yr over just 22 days in northern summer-unprecedented rates for Mars. While bedform transport rates are some of the highest yet reported on Mars, the sand flux contribution between the different bedforms does not substantially vary from equatorial sites with lower rates. Seasonal off-cap sublimation winds and summer-time polar storms are attributed as the cause for the elevated activity, rather than cryospheric processes.

Active Mars: A Dynamic World

Mars exhibits diverse surface changes at all latitudes and all seasons. Active processes include impact cratering, aeolian sand and dust transport, a variety of slope processes, changes in polar ices, and diverse effects of seasonal CO₂ frost. The extent of surface change has been surprising and indicates that the present climate is capable of reshaping the surface. Activity has important implications for the Amazonian history of Mars: understanding processes is a necessary step before we can understand their implications and variations over time.

Single Image Super-Resolution Restoration of TGO CaSSIS Colour Images: Demonstration with Perseverance Rover Landing Site and Mars Science Targets

The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO)’s Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System (CaSSIS) provides multi-spectral optical imagery at 4–5 m/pixel spatial resolution. Improving the spatial resolution of CaSSIS images would allow greater amounts of scientific information to be extracted. In this work, we propose a novel Multi-scale Adaptive weighted Residual Super-resolution Generative Adversarial Network (MARSGAN) for single-image super-resolution restoration of TGO CaSSIS images, and demonstrate how this provides an effective resolution enhancement factor of about 3 times. We demonstrate with qualitative and quantitative assessments of CaSSIS SRR results over the Mars2020 Perseverance rover’s landing site. We also show examples of similar SRR performance over 8 science test sites mainly selected for being covered by HiRISE at higher resolution for comparison, which include many features unique to the Martian surface. Application of MARSGAN will allow high resolution colour imagery from CaSSIS to be obtained over extensive areas of Mars beyond what has been possible to obtain to date from HiRISE.

A lower-than-expected saltation threshold at Martian pressure and below

Aeolian sediment transport is observed to occur on Mars as well as other extraterrestrial environments, generating ripples and dunes as on Earth. The search for terrestrial analogs of planetary bedforms, as well as environmental simulation experiments able to reproduce their formation in planetary conditions, are powerful ways to question our understanding of geomorphological processes toward unusual environmental conditions. Here, we perform sediment transport laboratory experiments in a closed-circuit wind tunnel placed in a vacuum chamber and operated at extremely low pressures to show that Martian conditions belong to a previously unexplored saltation regime. The threshold wind speed required to initiate saltation is only quantitatively predicted by state-of-the art models up to a density ratio between grain and air of [Formula: see text] but unexpectedly falls to much lower values for higher density ratios. In contrast, impact ripples, whose emergence is continuously observed on the granular bed over the whole pressure range investigated, display a characteristic wavelength and propagation velocity essentially independent of pressure. A comparison of these findings with existing models suggests that sediment transport at low Reynolds number but high grain-to-fluid density ratio may be dominated by collective effects associated with grain inertia in the granular collisional layer.

Boundary condition controls on the high-sand-flux regions of Mars

Wind has been an enduring geologic agent throughout the history of Mars, but it is often unclear where and why sediment is mobile in the current epoch. We investigated whether eolian bed-form (dune and ripple) transport rates are depressed or enhanced in some areas by local or regional boundary conditions (e.g., topography, sand supply/availability). Bedform heights, migration rates, and sand fluxes all span two to three orders of magnitude across Mars, but we found that areas with the highest sand fluxes are concentrated in three regions: Syrtis Major, Hellespontus Montes, and the north polar erg. All regions are located near prominent transition zones of topography (e.g., basins, polar caps) and thermophysical properties (e.g., albedo variations); these are not known to be critical terrestrial boundary conditions. The two regions adjacent to major impact basins (Hellas and Isidis Planitia) showed radially outward upslope winds driving sand movement, although seasonally reversing wind regimes were also observed. The northern polar dunes yielded the highest known fluxes on the planet, driven by summer katabatic winds modulated by the seasonal CO₂ cap retreat-processes not known to affect terrestrial dunes. In contrast, southern dune fields (<45°S) were less mobile, likely as a result of seasonal frost and ground ice suppressing sand availability. Results suggest that, unlike on Earth, large-scale topographic and thermophysical variabilities play a leading role in driving sand fluxes on Mars.

Water induced sediment levitation enhances downslope transport on Mars

On Mars, locally warm surface temperatures (~293 K) occur, leading to the possibility of (transient) liquid water on the surface. However, water exposed to the martian atmosphere will boil, and the sediment transport capacity of such unstable water is not well understood. Here, we present laboratory studies of a newly recognized transport mechanism: “levitation” of saturated sediment bodies on a cushion of vapor released by boiling. Sediment transport where this mechanism is active is about nine times greater than without this effect, reducing the amount of water required to transport comparable sediment volumes by nearly an order of magnitude. Our calculations show that the effect of levitation could persist up to ~48 times longer under reduced martian gravity. Sediment levitation must therefore be considered when evaluating the formation of recent and present-day martian mass wasting features, as much less water may be required to form such features than previously thought.

Downslope sediment transport on Mars is reported, but the transport capacity of unstable water under low pressures is not well understood. Here, the authors present a newly discovered, highly reactive transportation mechanism that is only possible under low pressure environments.

Dune-slope activity due to frost and wind throughout the north polar erg, Mars

Repeat, high-resolution imaging of dunes within the Martian north polar erg have shown that these dune slopes are very active, with alcoves forming along the dune brink each Mars year. In some areas, a few hundred cubic metres of downslope sand movement have been observed, sometimes moving the dune brink 'backwards'. Based on morphological and activity-timing similarities of these north polar features to southern dune gullies, identifying the processes forming these features is likely to have relevance for understanding the general evolution/modification of dune gullies. To determine alcove-formation model constraints, we have surveyed seven dune fields, each over 1-4 Mars winters. Consistent with earlier reports, we found that alcove-formation activity occurs during the autumn-winter seasons, before or while the stable seasonal frost layer is deposited. We propose a new model in which alcove formation occurs during the autumn, and springtime sublimation activity then enhances the feature. Summertime winds blow sand into the new alcoves, erasing small alcoves over a few Mars years. Based on the observed rate of alcove erasure, we estimated the effective aeolian sand transport flux. From this, we proposed that alcove formation may account for 2-20% of the total sand movement within these dune fields.

Reconstructing the transport history of pebbles on Mars

The discovery of remarkably rounded pebbles by the rover Curiosity, within an exhumed alluvial fan complex in Gale Crater, presents some of the most compelling evidence yet for sustained fluvial activity on Mars. While rounding is known to result from abrasion by inter-particle collisions, geologic interpretations of sediment shape have been qualitative. Here we show how quantitative information on the transport distance of river pebbles can be extracted from their shape alone, using a combination of theory, laboratory experiments and terrestrial field data. We determine that the Martian basalt pebbles have been carried tens of kilometres from their source, by bed-load transport on an alluvial fan. In contrast, angular clasts strewn about the surface of the Curiosity traverse are indicative of later emplacement by rock fragmentation processes. The proposed method for decoding transport history from particle shape provides a new tool for terrestrial and planetary sedimentology.

A new analysis of Mars "Special Regions": findings of the second MEPAG Special Regions Science Analysis Group (SR-SAG2)

A committee of the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG) has reviewed and updated the description of Special Regions on Mars as places where terrestrial organisms might replicate (per the COSPAR Planetary Protection Policy). This review and update was conducted by an international team (SR-SAG2) drawn from both the biological science and Mars exploration communities, focused on understanding when and where Special Regions could occur. The study applied recently available data about martian environments and about terrestrial organisms, building on a previous analysis of Mars Special Regions (2006) undertaken by a similar team. Since then, a new body of highly relevant information has been generated from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (launched in 2005) and Phoenix (2007) and data from Mars Express and the twin Mars Exploration Rovers (all 2003). Results have also been gleaned from the Mars Science Laboratory (launched in 2011). In addition to Mars data, there is a considerable body of new data regarding the known environmental limits to life on Earth-including the potential for terrestrial microbial life to survive and replicate under martian environmental conditions. The SR-SAG2 analysis has included an examination of new Mars models relevant to natural environmental variation in water activity and temperature; a review and reconsideration of the current parameters used to define Special Regions; and updated maps and descriptions of the martian environments recommended for treatment as "Uncertain" or "Special" as natural features or those potentially formed by the influence of future landed spacecraft. Significant changes in our knowledge of the capabilities of terrestrial organisms and the existence of possibly habitable martian environments have led to a new appreciation of where Mars Special Regions may be identified and protected. The SR-SAG also considered the impact of Special Regions on potential future human missions to Mars, both as locations of potential resources and as places that should not be inadvertently contaminated by human activity.

Threshold for sand mobility on Mars calibrated from seasonal variations of sand flux

Coupling between surface winds and saltation is a fundamental factor governing geological activity and climate on Mars. Saltation of sand is crucial for both erosion of the surface and dust lifting into the atmosphere. Wind tunnel experiments along with measurements from surface meteorology stations and modelling of wind speeds suggest that winds should only rarely move sand on Mars. However, evidence for currently active dune migration has recently accumulated. Crucially, the frequency of sand-moving events and the implied threshold wind stresses for saltation have remained unknown. Here we present detailed measurements of Nili Patera dune field based on High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment images, demonstrating that sand motion occurs daily throughout much of the year and that the resulting sand flux is strongly seasonal. Analysis of the seasonal sand flux variation suggests an effective threshold for sand motion for application to large-scale model wind fields (1-100 km scale) of τ(s)=0.01±0.0015 N m(-2).

Numerical modeling of wind-blown sand on Mars

Recent observation results show that sand ripples and dunes are movable like those on Earth under current Martian climate. And the aeolian process on Mars therefore is re-attracting the eyes of scientific researchers in different fields. In this paper, the spatial and temporal evolution of wind-blown sand on Mars is simulated by the large-eddy simulation method. The simulations are conducted under the conditions of both friction wind speed higher and lower than the "fluid threshold", respectively. The fluid entrainment of the sand particles, the processes among saltation sand particles and sand bed, and the negative feedback of sand movement to flow field are considered. Our results show that the "overshoot" phenomenon also exists in the evolution of wind-blown sand on Mars both temporally and spatially; impact entrainment affects the sand transport rate on Mars when the wind speed is smaller or larger than the fluid threshold; and both the average saltation length and height are one order of magnitudes larger than those on Earth. Eventually, the formulas describing the sand transport rate, average saltation length and height on Mars are given, respectively.

The physics of wind-blown sand and dust

The transport of sand and dust by wind is a potent erosional force, creates sand dunes and ripples, and loads the atmosphere with suspended dust aerosols. This paper presents an extensive review of the physics of wind-blown sand and dust on Earth and Mars. Specifically, we review the physics of aeolian saltation, the formation and development of sand dunes and ripples, the physics of dust aerosol emission, the weather phenomena that trigger dust storms, and the lifting of dust by dust devils and other small-scale vortices. We also discuss the physics of wind-blown sand and dune formation on Venus and Titan.

Flow-induced shear instabilities of cohesive granulates

In this work we use a multiscale framework to calculate the fluidization threshold of three-dimensional cohesive granulates under shear forces exerted by a creeping flow. A continuum model of flow through porous media provides an analytical expression for the average drag force on a single grain. The balance equation for the forces and a force propagation model are then used to investigate the effects of porosity and packing structure on the stability of the pile. We obtain a closed-form expression for the instability threshold of a regular packing of monodisperse frictionless cohesive spherical grains in a planar fracture. Our result quantifies the compound effect of structural (packing orientation and porosity) and dynamical properties of the system on its stability.

Review of wet environment types on Mars with focus on duration and volumetric issues

The astrobiological significance of certain environment types on Mars strongly depends on the temperature, duration, and chemistry of liquid water that was present there in the past. Recent works have focused on the identification of signs of ancient water on Mars, as it is more difficult to estimate the above-mentioned parameters. In this paper, two important factors are reviewed, the duration and the volume of water at different environment types on past and present Mars. Using currently available information, we can only roughly estimate these values, but as environment types show characteristic differences in this respect, it is worth comparing them and the result may have importance for research in astrobiology. Impact-induced and geothermal hydrothermal systems, lakes, and valley networks were in existence on Mars over the course of from 10(2) to 10(6) years, although they would have experienced substantially different temperature regimes. Ancient oceans, as well as water in outflow channels and gullies, and at the microscopic scale as interfacial water layers, would have had inherently different times of duration and overall volume: oceans may have endured from 10(4) to 10(6) years, while interfacial water would have had the smallest volume and residence time of liquid phase on Mars. Martian wet environments with longer residence times of liquid water are believed to have existed for that amount of time necessary for life to develop on Earth between the Late Heavy Bombardment and the age of the earliest fossil record. The results of this review show the necessity for more detailed analysis of conditions within geothermal heat-induced systems to reconstruct the conditions during weathering and mineral alteration, as well as to search for signs of reoccurring wet periods in ancient crater lakes.

Seasonal flows on warm Martian slopes

Water probably flowed across ancient Mars, but whether it ever exists as a liquid on the surface today remains debatable. Recurring slope lineae (RSL) are narrow (0.5 to 5 meters), relatively dark markings on steep (25° to 40°) slopes; repeat images from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment show them to appear and incrementally grow during warm seasons and fade in cold seasons. They extend downslope from bedrock outcrops, often associated with small channels, and hundreds of them form in some rare locations. RSL appear and lengthen in the late southern spring and summer from 48°S to 32°S latitudes favoring equator-facing slopes, which are times and places with peak surface temperatures from ~250 to 300 kelvin. Liquid brines near the surface might explain this activity, but the exact mechanism and source of water are not understood.