MLA Reflectivity near the North Pole

Map of MLA reflectivity showing isolated areas of brighter and darker reflectance in areas of permanent shadow. Many of the brighter areas detected by MLA (as indicated by the arrows) are in unusually cold regions where surface water ice is predicted. In some cases, the dark regions are somewhat larger than the areas predicted to have thermally stable water ice.

Date acquired: November 29, 2012

Image Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington