Quantifying Sub-Meter Surface Heterogeneity on Mars Using Off-Axis
Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) Data
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.