Cascading Dunes

Image Title: Cascading Dunes
Source: Mars Global Surveyor Narrow Angle Camera
Release Date: August 07, 2006

Description

I find the dune fields of Mars fascinating. Some of these dune fields can be likened to cascading sheets of water. In this image I have attempted to capture the feeling of falling water as well as providing a feeling of three dimensional depth. While not readily apparent in the greatly reduced version of the image at left, this effect can be seen in the subsection of the image used to create the wallpaper linked to below.

Source Image Background

The original data used for the creation of this image came from a Mars Global Surveyor Narrow Angle Camera image of a small sliver of the dune field inside the 170 kilometer diameter Proctor Crater. The width of the image in terms of the Martian surface is approximately 3.75 kilometers. Note that the dune fields in the source image were substantially altered to create this rendition.

Image Processing

All work on this image was performed using Adobe Photoshop. The image's aspect ratio distortion due to the viewing geometry of the camera was not corrected in this image. The structure of the dunes in the original image was significantly altered and a coloring scheme was chosen that would both heighten the impression of three dimensionalism in the image and provide a blue planet vs red planet contrast. The print version of this image is 8968 by 2195 pixels.

Downloads

Because of the aspect ratio of the full image, I have created a cropped and compressed version of "Cascading Dunes" sized for use as a desktop wallpaper. This wallpaper is made available for your personal use only. It is not to be modified or redistributed in any form by any means. All rights are retained by the artist.

Cascading Dunes of Proctor Crater wallpaper, 1280 X 1024 Wallpaper Image by Jim Plaxco