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J. C. Armstrong (Weber State University), T. N. Titus (United States Geolgical Survey), H. H. Kieffer (United States Geological Survey)
Following the work of Kieffer and Titus (2001), we present results of THEMIS and TES observations of Korolev crater, at roughly 72 degrees latitude in the Martian northern polar region. Similar to techniques employed in Titus et al. (2003), we use thermal infrared images from THEMIS to identify several distinct thermophysical units within the crater basin. The THEMIS results show these regions exhibit both temperature and albedo variations, both spatially within the crater and throughout the Martian year. In addition to the variations identified in the THEMIS observations, TES observations show differences in albedo and temperature of these units on both daily and seasonal cycles. Modeling both diurnal and annual temperature variations of the surface, we use nearly three years of TES observations to examine the thermophysical properties of these units. This analysis reveals the units are likely thick layers of high thermal inertia material (water ice, or extremely water-rich regolith) overlaid by thin, low thermal interia material (dust). Variations of the physical properties of these units are likely due to variable dust content (caused by erosion and deposition patterns within the crater) and possibly variations in the subsurface material itself.
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The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: jcarmstrong@weber.edu
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 35#5
© 2003. The American Astronomical Soceity.