{"id":629663,"date":"2024-03-08T14:16:51","date_gmt":"2024-03-08T19:16:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/?post_type=image-article&p=629663"},"modified":"2024-03-08T14:16:53","modified_gmt":"2024-03-08T19:16:53","slug":"martian-barchan-dunes","status":"publish","type":"image-article","link":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/image-article\/martian-barchan-dunes\/","title":{"rendered":"Martian Barchan Dunes"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"\" class=\"hds-media hds-module wp-block-image\"><div class=\"margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-inline\"><div class=\"hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto\"><figure class=\"hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-none \"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/pia23669orig.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1280\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/pia23669orig.jpg?w=2048\" class=\"attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048\" alt=\"An aerial view of the reddish-brown surface of Mars taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Barchan dunes (circular dunes) appear here like oval divots in the ground. Linear dunes also appear.\" style=\"transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/pia23669orig.jpg 2880w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/pia23669orig.jpg?resize=300,188 300w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/pia23669orig.jpg?resize=768,480 768w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/pia23669orig.jpg?resize=1024,640 1024w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/pia23669orig.jpg?resize=1536,960 1536w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/pia23669orig.jpg?resize=2048,1280 2048w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/pia23669orig.jpg?resize=400,250 400w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/pia23669orig.jpg?resize=600,375 600w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/pia23669orig.jpg?resize=900,563 900w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/pia23669orig.jpg?resize=1200,750 1200w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/pia23669orig.jpg?resize=2000,1250 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" loading=\"eager\" \/><\/a><\/figure><figcaption class=\"hds-caption padding-y-2\"><div class=\"hds-credits\">NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/University of Arizona<\/div><\/figcaption><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p>On Jan. 16, 2020, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) captured this image of two types of sand dunes on Mars: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jpl.nasa.gov\/images\/pia23669-barchan-and-linear-dunes\" rel=\"noopener\">barchan and linear dunes<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The small dots are called barchan dunes, and from their shape we can tell that they are upwind. The downwind dunes are long and linear. These two types of dune each show the wind direction in different ways: the barchans have a steep slope and crescent-shaped “horns” that point downwind, while the linear dunes are stretched out along the primary wind direction. Linear dunes, however, typically indicate at least two different prevailing winds, which stretch out the sand along their average direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Barchan and linear dunes aren\u2019t just a Martian phenomenon \u2013 we can also see them on Earth. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station have snapped photos of them occurring in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov\/images\/91119\/barchan-dunes-and-lagoons-southern-brazil\" rel=\"noopener\">Brazil<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/earthobservatory.nasa.gov\/images\/151503\/linear-and-star-dunes\" rel=\"noopener\">Saudi Arabia<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Image Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/University of Arizona<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Jan. 16, 2020, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) captured this image of two types of sand dunes on Mars: barchan and linear dunes. The small dots are called barchan dunes, and from their shape we can tell that they are upwind. The downwind dunes are long and linear. These two types of dune each […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":334,"featured_media":629662,"template":"","meta":{"nasa_hds_core_meta_l10n":"en-US","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_editor":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_contacts":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_topic":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_linked_locations":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_related_articles":[],"hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_id":"","hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_type":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_x":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_y":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_gallery_images":[]},"categories":[3229,2748],"news-tags":[],"internal-terms":[],"coauthors":[11483],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Martian Barchan Dunes","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/image-article\/martian-barchan-dunes\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/image-article\/martian-barchan-dunes\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/pia23669orig.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/pia23669orig.jpg"},"articleSection":"The Solar System","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Monika Luabeya"}],"creator":["Monika Luabeya"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"NASA","logo":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/themes\/nasa\/assets\/images\/nasa-logo.svg"},"keywords":["Missions","Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)","Mars"],"dateCreated":"2024-03-08T19:16:51Z","datePublished":"2024-03-08T19:16:51Z","dateModified":"2024-03-08T19:16:53Z"},"rendered":"<meta name=\"parsely-title\" content=\"Martian Barchan Dunes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-link\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/image-article\/martian-barchan-dunes\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-type\" content=\"post\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-image-url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/pia23669orig.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-pub-date\" content=\"2024-03-08T19:16:51Z\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-section\" content=\"The Solar System\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-tags\" content=\"Missions,Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO),Mars\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-author\" content=\"Monika Luabeya\" \/>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/nasa.gov\/p.js"},"read_time":1,"featured_image":{"id":629662,"file":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/pia23669orig.jpg","title":"Martian Barchan Dunes","alt":"An aerial view of the reddish-brown surface of Mars taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Barchan dunes (circular dunes) appear here like oval divots in the ground. Linear dunes also appear.","caption":"This image shows two types of sand dunes on Mars. The small dots are called barchan dunes, and from their shape we can tell that they are upwind. The downwind dunes are long and linear. These two types of dune each show the wind direction in different ways: the barchans have a steep slope and crescent-shaped \"horns\" that point downwind, while the linear dunes are stretched out along the primary wind direction. Linear dunes, however, typically indicate a wind regime with at least two different prevailing winds, which stretch out the sand along their average direction. In several places in this image, you can find barchan dunes turning into linear dunes as they are stretched out, but they both seem into indicate the same wind direction."},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/image-article\/629663"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/image-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/image-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/334"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/image-article\/629663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":629664,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/image-article\/629663\/revisions\/629664"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/629662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629663"},{"taxonomy":"news-tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-tags?post=629663"},{"taxonomy":"internal-terms","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-terms?post=629663"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=629663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}