posted on Jun, 13 2015 @ 05:05 AM
hi - wanted to answer this with examples of non-mars images and other examples of close-up ones of mars - next to the original TIFF files and the
JPEGS used in the google earth / mars / moon programs and your examples...
its simply jpeg compression anomalies that you are bringing to light by changing the colour values and exposing where the image-compression has made
similar colours the same to make files smaller for web and internet use.
those images with anomalies are then mapped onto the surface of mars and mapped over the terrain to follow its curves...
...you can do the same on an image taken of a piece of paper saved as a lossy-jpeg
s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com...
...here's another of a random image of mars - a close-up of a rock and surrounding dirt in the right, you have the uncompressed TIFF image taken of
the surface - and on the left - the JPEG that has been saved to make the file size smaller (by throwing away information on colours that are very
similar next to each other but which the eye cannot discern). I've then changed the colour values of the image to bring out and show the compression
anomalies. on the left - smack bang in the middle almost - is a square. its not on the original because the original has all its colour information -
the jpeg on the left is showing the same checker boarding effects inherent to jpeg compression.
s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com...
heres one of a portion the grand canyon
s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com...
here are a couple on jpeg images of paintings
s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com...
s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com...
...the google earth images follow contours (they don't look flat and follow the terrain) - this is because the flat (like my image examples) images
with the compression artefacts already there, are mapped onto the surface topography of the mars (or google earth - try it in google earth on areas of
dessert or fields too - does the same as would google moon and even the google sky program on a non-black area) - and so have the appearance of
following the terrain.
the issue is compounded on your example with google beacause you are looking at a compressed image of the planet as you zoom - which is itself already
made of successive images that are also already compressed.
to prove this - find an area of mars you see this artifact on - then use the NASA or ESA websites to find the original imagery; you will specifically
need the TIFF versions of the images of that area - not the jpegs.
These "TIFF" format versions of the images are of a format where you get all the dots of colour and none of the compression anomalies.
Then try the same thing.
All the images used on the mars globe are available in their original format from the above sites (ESA or NASA).
You will get similar results to my first example when using uncompressed versions of the same areas and the geometric anomalies will disappear.