CARTOGRAPHIC APPLICATIONS DERIVED FROM THE ANALYSIS OF
SPACECRAFT DATA FRM MARS
J.R.
Zimbelman
Smithsonian Institution, CEPS/NASM, Washington, DC, USA
zimbelmanj@si.edu
Several active spacecraft at the planet
Mars have returned a wide variety of data that are amenable to mapping
projects. Research projects supported by
grants from several programs within the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) make use of the new data in a variety of applications. On-going (or recently completed) research
projects carried out by the author will be used to illustrate the cartographic
potential of various imaging and geophysical data sets obtained from several
NASA spacecraft at Mars. One project
involves the study of wind-related (aeolian) bedforms, with wavelengths of 10
to 100 meters,
found in and around topographic obstacles throughout the equatorial and
mid-latitudes of Mars. Images obtained
from the two Mars Exploration Rovers (MERs) and from cameras on the Mars Global
Surveyor (MGS), Mars Odyssey, and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) show the
aeolian bedforms over a considerable range of scales, providing insights into
the formation processes that produced these features. Another project involves the study of long
lava flows on Mars, with an emphasis on the morphology of the flow margins,
makes use of images and geophysical information obtained from MGS, Mars
Odyssey, and MRO instruments. The
enigmatic Medusae Fossae Formation materials that blanket nearly one-third of
the equatorial latitudes of Mars were investigated through the production of a
geologic map that utilized images and topographic data from the MGS and Mars
Odyssey spacecraft. A recently concluded
project focused an evaluation of hypothesized standing bodies of water on Mars
by searching for shoreline beach ridges in images and topographic data from the
MGS and Mars Odyssey spacecraft. In each
of these examples, the analysis depended on the use of map-projected images and
geophysical data, and often resulted in cartographic products. The ready accessibility of all of these data
types over the internet means that cartographic products will likely play an
increasing role in the on-going investigations of Mars.