Apparent thermal inertia and the surface heterogeneity of Mars. Icarus, submitted

The final copy of this dissertation has been examined by the signatories, and we find that both the content and the form meet acceptable presentation standards of scholarly work in the above mentioned discipline. iii Putzig, Nathaniel E. (Ph.D., Geophysics) Thermal inertia and surface heterogeneity on Mars Dissertation directed by Dr. Michael T. Mellon iv Thermal inertia derived from temperature observations is critical for under-standing surface geology and assessing potential landing sites on Mars. Derivation methods generally assume uniform surface properties for any given observation. Consequently, horizontal heterogeneity and near-surface layering may yield appar-ent thermal inertia that varies with time of day and season. To evaluate the effects of horizontal heterogeneity, I modeled the thermal behavior of surfaces containin