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Abstract
AbstractThe Mastcam (Mast Camera) instrument onboard the NASA Curiosity rover provides an exclusive view of Mars: High‐resolution color images from Mastcam allow users to study Gale crater's geologic terrains along Curiosity's path. These ground observations complement the spatially broader views of Gale crater provided by spacecrafts from orbit. However, for a given Mastcam image, it can be challenging to locate the corresponding terrains on the orbital view. No method for locating Mastcam images onto orbital images had been made publicly available. The procedure presented here allows users to generate Mastcam image viewsheds, using ArcGIS® software, its built‐in Viewshed tool®, and public Mars datasets. This procedure locates onto Mars orbital view the terrains that are observed in a given Mastcam image. Because this procedure uses public datasets, it is applicable to available Mastcam images and to the future ones that will be acquired along the Curiosity rover's path. This procedure can be used by the public to assess scientific questions regarding Martian surface processes and geologic history. In addition, this procedure can be utilized as pedagogic GIS material by the Geosciences or Planetary Sciences communities, for enhancing students' skillsets in GIS and provide students with experience working with datasets from both orbiter and rover Mars missions.
Highlights
The Complementary Views of Ground and Orbital Images of MarsMars terrain images collected via successive space missions keep refining our view of the red planet
The procedure presented here allows users to generate Mastcam image viewsheds, using ArcGIS® software, its built‐in Viewshed tool®, and public Mars datasets. This procedure locates onto Mars orbital view the terrains that are observed in a given Mastcam image
Because this procedure uses public datasets, it is applicable to available Mastcam images and to the future ones that will be acquired along the Curiosity rover's path
Summary
Mars terrain images collected via successive space missions keep refining our view of the red planet. Knowledge about Martian surface processes and the geologic history of the planet have greatly advanced due to our ability to image its surface Because both orbital and ground views offer complementary information, their coupling is key for optimizing the study and interpretation of geologic terrains. Among the cameras present onboard the Curiosity rover from the NASA Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission, the Mastcam imagers provide an exclusive high‐resolution color view of Mars (Figure 1a). We describe a procedure that uses ArcGIS® and publicly available Mars datasets to locate Gale crater terrains seen in Mastcam images into their equivalent orbital view. By successfully correlating in situ and remote observations of Gale crater, we provide the Geoscience and Planetary Science communities access to a methodology for investigating Martian surface processes and geologic history
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