Survey of remnant seasonal ice patches at southern polar Mars

On Mars after the recession of the seasonal polar ice cap, small icy patches in shady and/or low thermal conductivity places are left behind. These regions are then illuminated by direct sunlight during the summer, warm up and in an ideal case a liquid phase could emerge. This work is surveying HiRISE images for such ice patches and found 148 images with ice patches on them out of the 730 images that fit the selection criteria of location and season. Their separation of ice from other bright patches, like clouds or lighter shades of surface layers and rocks was possible by their bluish color and strong connection to local topography Images with ice patches ranged between 140° and 200° solar longitude in the latitude band between −40° and − 60°. The diameter of the ice patches ranges between 1.5 and 300 m, and they remain on the surface even after the seasonal polar cap has passed over the area for at least the duration range of 1.5–139 Martian days. This range of duration indicates not ephemerally formed ice in the night but longer presence at the surface.