This image shows a single CRISM observation sequence of a geologic sample (a breccia), obtained during ground testing. This observation was made using a command sequence identical to what will be used inflight to observe Mars.
One two-dimensional frame of CRISM data, outlined in white in the upper left panel, is a single line of a spatial image. Each element of the line has a spectrum that fills out the second dimension of the frame. A two-dimensional spatial image of a target is built up by taking successive data frames as the spectrometer field of view is swept across a target, either by scanning CRISM's gimbal or by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's along-track motion over the Martian surface.
The stack of resulting data frames (shown in the upper left panel) is a multiband image, or "image cube." The upper right panel shows a three-wavelength slice through the multiband image to create a red-green-blue image as the eye might see it. The lower right right panel shows the spectrum for a single spatial pixel from the center panel. The absorption bands present in the spectrum are due to water in the minerals present in the breccia.
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