The landing site is about 22 degrees from the Martian North Pole, and 3 degrees above the planet's Arctic Circle. The color=coding of geologic features (primarily craters) indicates different surface materials/structures, as estimated from orbital surveys of the planet.

     A Mars Odyssey orbiter map of the estimated water content of Martian soils near the Martian North Pole, showing the approximate location of the Phoenix lander. Different colors are used to represent different amounts of water (or more accurately, hydrogen), as determined by gamma-ray spectrometer measurements. Violet and blue represents high hydrogen content in the permanent water-ice polar cap, while red and orange represent low hydrogen content, presumably buried beneath a few inches to a few feet of dry soil.

     A HiRISE orbiter image of the Phoenix lander parachuting to the Martian surface. The lander made a safe touchdown on an Arctic plain on May 25, 2008. (NASA, JPL-Caltech, University of Arizona, Phoenix Mission)

     A pseudo-color image of the Martian surface taken by the Phoenix lander on its first day on the surface of Mars. Only two color filters (violet and infrared) were used in creating this image, so the colors, while representative of actual surface colors, are not entirely accurate.
     A pebbly, geometric surface stretches off into the distance. Similar surface features are commonly found on Earth in regions subject to alternate freezing and thawing. This arctic region on Mars is presumably subject to the same sort of seasonal changes.