Search Publications
A flexible deep learning crater detection scheme using Segment Anything Model (SAM)
Giannakis, Iraklis; Bhardwaj, Anshuman; Sam, Lydia +1 more
Craters are one of the most important morphological features in planetary exploration. To that extent, detecting, mapping and counting craters is a mainstream process in planetary science, done primarily manually, which is a very laborious, time-consuming and inconsistent process. Recently, machine learning (ML) and computer vision have been succe…
Insight from the Noachian-aged fractured crust to the volcanic evolution of Mars: A case study from the Thaumasia graben and Claritas Fossae
Hauber, Ernst; Stephan, Katrin; Pieterek, Bartosz +1 more
Although most of the large volcanic landforms on Mars have been extensively studied, this is not the case for kilometer-sized landforms whose origin remains uncertain and which might provide important insights into the evolution of Martian volcanism. Previously, different populations of small-scale putative scoria cone volcanoes have been describe…
Possibly seismically triggered avalanches after the S1222a Marsquake and S1000a impact event
Rodriguez, S.; Lognonné, P.; Perrin, C. +9 more
Ground motion from seismic events detected by the SEIS/InSight seismometer on Mars could potentially trigger dust avalanches. Our research strongly suggests that the seismic event S1000a may have triggered a significant number of dust avalanches. In contrast, following the seismic event S1222a, there was only a modest increase in avalanche occurre…
Glacial sculpting of a martian cratered landscape on the northeastern flank of the Hellas basin
Moore, Jeffrey M.; Wilson, Sharon A.; Howard, Alan D. +2 more
The interiors and exteriors of the >25 km diameter Batson, Nako, Salkhad, and Jori craters (and McCauley crater to a lesser degree) on the northeastern rim of Hellas basin, Mars, were extensively modified by glacio-fluvial and glacio-lacustrine activity during the Middle and Late Amazonian, from some time before 1.4 Ga to the present as reveale…
Polyphase tectonics on Mars: Insight from the Claritas Fossae
Tosi, Silvano; Balbi, Evandro; Ferretti, Gabriele +2 more
The Claritas Fossae (CF) is an elongated system of scarps and depressions >900 km long, representing the western boundary of the Thaumasia Region to the south of the Tharsis volcanic province. Although there is general agreement on the tectonic nature of such major physiographic feature, the processes that led to its formation are still debated…
Characterization of aqueous alteration and formation of salty exposures at Ius Chasma, Mars
Flahaut, Jessica; Weitz, Catherine M.; Bishop, Janice L. +6 more
Intriguing outcrops in Ius Chasma provide a window into past aqueous processes in Valles Marineris, Mars. Hydrous sulfate minerals are abundant throughout this region, but one area in Ius Chasma includes phyllosilicates, opal, and additional materials with unusual spectral features. This study at Geryon Montes, an east-west horst that divides Ius …
Automatic crater shape retrieval using unsupervised and semi-supervised systems
Tewari, Atal; Jain, Vikrant; Khanna, Nitin
Impact craters are depressions formed due to impacts on the surface of planetary bodies. Recent deep learning-based crater detection methods assume craters as circular-shaped without much attention to extracting craters' shape and morphology. Craters' shape information (i.e., instance segmentation map for craters) can be helpful for many advanced …
Spectro-photometry of Phobos simulants: I. Detectability of hydrated minerals and organic bands
Hasselmann, Pedro H.; Poggiali, Giovanni; Fornasier, Sonia +12 more
Previous Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Express observations of Phobos and Deimos, the moons of Mars, have improved our understanding of these small bodies. However, their formation and composition remain poorly constrained. Physical and spectral properties suggest that Phobos may be a weakly thermal-altered captured asteroid but the dynamic…
Thermophysical arguments against basal melting in the south polar region of Mars
Ojha, Lujendra; Buffo, Jacob; Journaux, Baptiste
The south polar layered deposits (SPLD) on Mars is primarily composed of H2O ice, with smaller quantities of impurities such as CO2 ice and dust. The presence of these impurities can affect the thermal structure of the SPLD, increasing the basal temperature and potentially leading to basal melting. Recently, bright basal refl…
Comprehensive observations and geostatistics of slope streaks within the Olympus Mons aureole
Stillman, D. E.; Primm, K. M.; Hoover, R. H. +3 more
Slope streaks (SS) are enigmatic linear features characterized by relatively low-albedo features that appear and fade on high-albedo slopes on Mars. Despite numerous hypotheses proposed to explain their formation, the primary mechanism behind SS remains elusive. Here, we examine 702 SS features using 32 multitemporal Context Imager (CTX) images an…