Search Publications
On the cryogenic nature of the large hills of Mars
Yakovlev, Valeriy; Horelik, Stanislav; Lytvynenko, Yuliia
The nature of large hills in the Martian equatorial regions like Zephyria Planum and the southern part of Elysium Planitia has not been studied, despite the fact that they have characteristic similar shapes and sharply contrast with the surrounding lava plains. The paper develops the previously proposed view on the permafrost injection nature of t…
Planetary topography measurement by descent stereophotogrammetry
Jones, G. H.; Brydon, G.; Persaud, D. M.
Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) provide valuable insights into the nature of solar system surfaces, facilitating geological analysis, landing site selection and characterisation, and contextualising in situ measurements. For missions to solar system bodies for which orbiters and soft landed platforms are technologically or financially challenging to…
Spectral classification and MGM-based mineralogical characterization of hydrated phases: The Nili Fossae case, Mars
Altieri, Francesca; Carli, Cristian; Serventi, Giovanna +2 more
Mars has a relatively tenuous atmosphere, the remote-sensed spectral data of the surface are affected by the presence of the atmosphere. In particular the water and CO2 absorption of the atmosphere are in the same spectral region as water, OH- and (CO3)2- in minerals. An accurate correction of the gaseou…
OpenMARS: A global record of martian weather from 1999 to 2015
Holmes, James A.; Lewis, Stephen R.; Patel, Manish R.
The Open access to Mars Assimilated Remote Soundings (OpenMARS) dataset is a reanalysis product combining past spacecraft observations with a Mars Global Circulation Model (GCM). The OpenMARS product is a global surface/atmosphere reference database of surface and atmospheric properties for almost nine Mars years that can be used by Mars scientist…
The Holy Grail: A road map for unlocking the climate record stored within Mars' polar layered deposits
Horgan, Briony; Byrne, Shane; Zacny, Kris +35 more
In its polar layered deposits (PLD), Mars possesses a record of its recent climate, analogous to terrestrial ice sheets containing climate records on Earth. Each PLD is greater than 2 km thick and contains thousands of layers, each containing information on the climatic and atmospheric state during its deposition, creating a climate archive. With …
Implications for the origin and evolution of Martian Recurring Slope Lineae at Hale crater from CaSSIS observations
Pajola, M.; Cremonese, G.; Thomas, N. +9 more
Recurring Slope Lineae (RSL) are narrow, dark features that typically source from rocky outcrops, incrementally lengthen down Martian steep slopes in warm seasons, fade in cold seasons and recur annually. In this study we report the first observations of RSL at Hale crater, Mars, during late southern summer by the Color and Surface Science Imaging…
3D digital outcrop model reconstruction of the Kimberley outcrop (Gale crater, Mars) and its integration into Virtual Reality for simulated geological analysis
Le Mouélic, Stéphane; Mangold, Nicolas; Le Deit, Laetitia +3 more
Structure-from-Motion photogrammetry has recently become a cheap and efficient method to reconstruct accurate and highly-resolved 3D Digital Outcrop Model (DOM) from a single set of images. This enables the 3D visualization of hardly accessible and/or remote geological scenes, which is of strong interest for planetary bodies. This paper focuses on…
Layered mound, inverted channels and polygonal fractures from the Makgadikgadi pan (Botswana): Possible analogues for Martian aqueous morphologies
Franchi, Fulvio; MacKay, Ruaraidh; Selepeng, Ame Thato +1 more
Layered mounds and inverted channels with polygonal fractures from the Ntwetwe Pan in the Makgadikgadi Basin (central Botswana) have been herein investigated. These morphologies are from an evaporitic basin (the Makgadikgadi Basin) that is the remnant of an ancient Pleistocene lake and is currently part of the world's largest evaporitic system.
Outbursts of comets at large heliocentric distances: Concise review and numerical simulations of brightness jumps
Wesołowski, M.; Gronkowski, P.; Tralle, I.
The outburst of comet brightness is spectacular and well-known manifestation of the physical activity of these relatively small cosmic bodies. The outbursts of brightness are observed for periodic comets, as well as for the comets moving along parabolic trajectories. The most known comet representing such kind of activity is the comet 29P/Schwassm…
End-of-mission calibration of the Cassini Imaging Science Subsystem
Porco, Carolyn; West, Robert; Verbiscer, Anne +3 more
We provide an end-of-mission update to the in-flight calibration of the Imaging Science Subsystem cameras on the Cassini spacecraft, resolving discrepancies in our previous analyses from 2004 to 2010, incorporating data through the end of the mission, adding a correction for the weak but measurable camera sensitivity decline over time, and providi…