How do wind patterns change in the Tharsis Bulge region

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How do wind patterns change in the Tharsis Bulge
region?
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Hypothesis wind around Tharsis barriers would
change wind patterns
Hypotheses Winds around Tharsis barriers would
change
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To show how wind patterns are affected by
obstacles on Mars
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BACKGROUND
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Geological Features

• Sand dunes ripples of sand caused by wind
• Yardangswind engraved marks
• Wind streaksdust streak made by wind
• Dust devil trackstracks left by dust devils

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Description

• Wind streaksDark or light streaks that usually
  form behind craters
• Dust devil tracks black thin tracks
• Yardangs lines carved in rock
• Sand dunes appear as ripples of sand

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BACKGROUND
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THEMIS Images

• This geological feature is called wind streaks.
  Its when wind picks up dust that falls down
  behind a barrier.

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Hypothesis

• We have learned very much about wind streaks by
  the size of the barrier, grain size, and wind
  strength.

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METHODS
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• Camera used to collect data
• Odyssey-THEMIS Camera
• 35 images gathered
• Geographic region focused on
• Tharsis Bulge
• Geologic features focused on
• Wind Streaks and Yardangs

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Data we recorded, observed and why?

• Image identification
• Lat/Long.
• Length of Wind Streak
• Frequency
• Context Area
• Direction of Wind Streaks
• Features
• Line Resolution

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Measurements and Websites

• Length (wind streaks)- Gimp
• Website
• http//themis.asu.edu/
• Map Tool

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DATA
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Location
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Observations

• 11features were below the equator
• All 35 features are within 200 to 340 longitude
  and -20 to 42 latitude

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Wind Direction and Frequency of Wind Streaks
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Observations

• West direction frequent
• Southwest least frequent

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Frequency vs. Length of Wind Streaks
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Observations

• Size of THEMIS image
• Wind streak vs frequency

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Frequency vs. Features
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Shape of Tail vs. Wind Streak Length
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Wind Streak Tail Shape vs. Direction
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Wind Patterns
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Observations

• Most wind patterns are going away from high
  elevations
• Most headed northwest and west

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DISCUSSION
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LocationObservations

• Compares Longitude and Latitude
• All features in one area
• Lack of points between 2 and 18N
• The wind features are spread out evenly in
  Northern Half

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LocationInterpretation

• Has good coverage
• Is spread out
• Was in specific target area

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Wind Direction Vs. Frequency of Wind Streaks
Observations

• Majority of streaks are in the west direction
• Least amount is in southwest direction

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Wind Direction Vs. Frequency of Wind Streaks
Interpretations

• Has a strong westward wind
• Has a weak southwestward wind

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Length and Frequency of Wind StreaksObservations

• Has a decreasing size as frequency increases
• Has varied types of data at both extremes
• Has more smaller streaks

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Length and Frequency of Wind StreaksInterpretatio
ns

• Strong winds are less common
• Weaker winds are more common
• Increase in length equals less wind streaks

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Frequency of Features

• There are many more wind streaks
• Very few dunes and yardangs

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Frequency of FeaturesInterpretation

• Wind streaks are much more common
• Wind streaks are most likely more easily made

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Shape of tail Vs. Wind Streak LengthObservations

• Square tails are the longest
• Pointed tails are medium length
• Fanned tails are shortest

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Shape of Tail Vs. Wind Streak LengthInterpretatio
n

• Longer lengths suggest faster wind speeds
• Shorter lengths suggest slower wind speeds

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Wind Streak Shape Vs. DirectionObservations

• Most wind is going west
• All other directions are approximately equal

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Wind Streak Shape Vs. DirectionInterpretation

• The west wind is predominant

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Wind PatternsObservations

• Wind goes from higher elevations to lower
• Most go west/northwest
• Go away from most large objects

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Wind PatternsInterpretations

• Caused by rising temperature
• Direction of possible jet stream
• Wind streaks are found close together in clusters

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Potential Errors

• Mistaking features (wind streaks for dust devil
  tracks)
• Inconsistent data
• Not enough data
• Sampling Area-coverage of Tharsis
• Typos, guessing numbers
• Assumptions

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CONCLUSION
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Science Question

• Question How do wind patterns change within the
  Tharsis Bulge region?

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Science Answer

• Prominent direction is west
• Global pattern
• Winds random around Tharsis
• Barriers and elevation are affecting wind winds
  go down hill.
• Except a few ( 4)
• Maybe has nowhere to go or local features
  affecting it.

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Science Answer (cont.)
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Hypothesis

• Winds around the mountains in the Tharsis Bulge
  region create some sort of jet stream in the NW
  direction.

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Future Work

• MORE DATA!!!!
• More data could have used more regions around
  Tharsis Bulge.
• Comparing Tharsis with other regions.
• Comparing Tharsis Bulge to others, could tell us
  how wind patterns changed in different elevations
  as well.

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Acknowledgement

• Thanks for the support from
• Karen Knierman
• Sylvain Piqueux
• Kimm Murray
• Jon Hill
• Chris Scooby Capages
• THEMIS Imagers
• Other members of our group

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References

• Websites http//themis.asu.edu/topic
• People
• Karen Knierman
• Sylvain Piqueux
• Kimm Murray
• Jon Hill
• Chris Scooby Capages
• Equipment
• ASU laptops
• THEMIS camera
• Odyssey spacecraft