A mighty dust storm sweeps through the north polar dune fields of Olympia Planum, triggered by the passage of a polar cold front during late Martian summer. During this phase of the Martian year, the northern polar cap undergoes rapid shrinkage, generating a pool of cold air around the pole.
This cold air occasionally spills southward across the north polar plains, just like the frontal systems observed on Earth. These fronts intensify throughout late summer and early fall, driven by the increasing temperature contrast between the cold air over the polar cap and the surrounding plains warmed by the extended daylight.
The panorma image was captured by the Mars Express HRSC camera on April 3, 2018, during the spacecraft's 18,039th orbit of Mars, combines images taken through the spacecraft's BLU, GRN, and IR filters to render a natural colour image resembling what a human eye would perceive from orbit.
On occasion, these fronts extend far enough south to incite large regional or even global dust storms. A similar front, emerging about a month later, reached the Martian mid-latitudes before evolving into the global dust storm that engulfed much of the Martian surface in 2018.
You might recall that this dust storm was visible from Earth, with Mars shining unusually bright in the night sky. Its brilliance was so remarkable that even casual observers couldn't help but notice the striking glow emanating from the Red Planet during this extraordinary event.
Higher resolution of the Mars Express image can be found with this link
Polar Front Over Olympia Planum - Mars Express | A dust stor… | Flickr
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