Archiving and distribution of high-quality Context Camera (CTX) digital terrain models for the Mars research community
NASA Planetary Data Archiving, Restoration, and Tools Program
Non PSI Personnel: Sarah Sutton (Co-Investigator, University of Arizona), Susan Conway (Co-Investigator, Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique), Daven Quinn (Co-Investigator, University of Wisconsin), Joel Davis (Co-Investigator, Natural History Museum, London, UK)
Project Description
High-resolution topography and imaging have radically advanced our knowledge of the environmental conditions and geologic processes shaping planetary surfaces. For example, topography and associated visible-wavelength data enables geologic and structural mapping, insight into crustal thickness, and the identification of potential hazards for surface operations. Many locations on Mars have available stereo image coverage but lack sufficient topographic data. This proposed effort would deliver hundreds of high-quality digital terrain models (DTMs) and orthoimages of the surface of Mars from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s Context Camera (CTX) to the planetary community in widely accessible formats.
Our data products have been generated using SOCET SET (BAE System) photogrammetry, a platform that has become the community standard for high-quality topographic data production (e.g., landing site certification, landscape modeling, surface monitoring). These CTX DTMs are processed at ~20 m/elevation post and orthoimages at 6 and ~20 m/pixel which are all registered to the standard reference frame of Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) data. These data products have already been generated and are awaiting a suitable publicly accessible repository that adheres to Planetary Data Systems (PDS) standards. Our SOCET SET to PDS pipeline for CTX DTM products is modeled after and complementary to those for High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) data. Many of these widely-distributed CTX DTMs correspond to previously released, co-located, and co-acquired HiRISE DTMs, allowing improved regional insight for analysis. Additionally, we have access to numerous DTMs from our co-investigators who will provide their SOCET SET-produced CTX DTM project output files, many of which have related peer-review results. The resulting data products would be promptly prepared for a PDS archive, compliant with the PDS4 archiving standards.
