Using model ionic systems and the recently proposed theory of dynamical response atclose approach (Kantorovich and Trevethan 2004 Phys. Rev. Lett. 93 236102) innon-contact atomic force microscopy (NC-AFM), we present the results of calculationsperformed to investigate the formation of atomic scale contrast in dissipation images.The accessible energy states and barriers of the microscopic tip–surface systemare determined as a function of tip position above the surface. These are thenused along with typical experimental parameters to investigate the dynamicalresponse of the system and mechanisms of atomic scale contrast. We show how thedamping signal contrast can appear either correlated or anti-correlated with thetopography depending on the distance of closest approach and the system temperature.The dependence of the dissipated energy, and the reversibility of a structuralchange, on the tip frequency and system temperature is investigated and therelevance of this to single-atom manipulation with the NC-AFM is discussed.