Martian clouds as seen by Mars Express Options

[Stu]

Going through all the MEX pics in the database mentioned over on the "Phobos" thread is like entering a hidden cave piled up to the ceiling with jewels. It's possble to make great - if low resolution - colour images out of the RGB triplets, like this...



... and this...



But some of the plain BW images are just... well... stunning... This one's been sharpened and contrast-tweaked, but I think it's one of the most beautiful Mars images I've ever seen, just because when you look at it you can't help but imagine what it would be like to stand under those wispy clouds and see them teased out across the pink sky above you by the marian winds...



But don't take my word for it. Nip over to...

ftp://psa.esac.esa.int/pub/mirror/MARS-EX...TED-V2.0/BROWSE

... and have a play for yourself!

[Drkskywxlt]

Very nice, Stu! I managed to catch a few clouds as well with MARCI. I'm going to be doing something similar to this on a planetary scale in the near future...and I'm wondering how to automate the detection of clouds between successive images over the same region. IOW, I need some sort of change detection criteria. Any ideas what the criteria should be, in terms of programming?

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[Nirgal]

Beautiful images (that last one posted by Stu must be among the most scenic mars cloud images ever

I need some sort of change detection criteria. Any ideas what the criteria should be, in terms of programming?

Hmm, looking at the stark contrast of those beautifully blue clouds to the reddish surface in your MARCI image, a very simplistic approach comes to mind: just comparing how the relative contribution of the blue color channel to total image brighness changes among frames ... should give an indication of the presence of those ice-rich clouds .... just a quick thought.

[Drkskywxlt]

Excellent suggestion, Nirgal, thanks! I should have been more specific though, I'm looking for dust