Study of Aeolian Dominated Landscapes in Jezero Crater, Mars

The surface of Mars is dynamically active and is currently being influenced by the high speed winds, dry granular flows and by the sublimation of the seasonal ice deposits. To conduct in situ studies focused on understanding the past geological history and biosignature preservation potential on Mars, a 6 wheeled scientist named Perseverance rover is sent to Jezero crater (~45 km diameter; 18.4°N, 77.7°E). Perseverance rover touched down inside the Jezero crater on 18 February 2021. Jezero crater landing site is surrounded by aeolian landforms of various types that includes sand dunes, transverse aeolian ridges (TARs), slope streaks, dust devil etc. The Perseverance rover on its way to scientifically important sites is very likely to encounter these aeolian landforms, in particular the TARs, as these features dominate the area surrounding the spot where Perseverance landed inside the Jezero crater. So it will be imperative to determine the morphometric characteristics of the TARs within the crater, which is to get a pre-traverse idea of the length, width, and height of the TARs for reducing any traversability risk to the rover. Our study is focused on determining the morphometric details of the TARs located in the vicinity of the Perseverance landing spot. We found that the height of most of the TARs range from 50 meters to 90 meters. Not many TARs with extreme values of height are observed. 66% of all the TARs lie in the 'Intermediate Range'. The study provides new insights into the scale of TARs within the Jezero crater and thus giving the mission team an idea of the terrain complexities that the rover is expected to encounter on its way to the scientific sites for detailed in-situ investigation.