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Cartography, Geologic Mapping, & Photogrammetry

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[Map: Mars MER Landing Site Map]
Mars MER Mission Online Map
One of several interactive maps being used to choose landing site for the 2003 Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission shown here being accessed on the World Wide Web
700 x 466, 115 kilobytes

An important aspect of the Astrogeology Research Program's work is involved in planetary cartography and mapping. There is a wide variety of information developed in this field, including:

  • Geodesy: developing accurate models describing the shape of a planetary body.
  • Photogrammetry: concerning the creation of topographic models from planetary imagery
  • Image processing: enhancing, correcting, and improving imagery. One of the many tasks image processing experts perform is combining multiple images to create large scale image mosaics of the planets.
  • Geologic mapping: creating maps describing the kinds of rock, soil, and geologic features found on the surface
  • Nomenclature: documenting and tracking the official names of planetary features and formations

Visit our Data & Information pages for links to our mapping, cartography, and photogrammetry projects.


[Geologic Map: South side of the Moon]
Geologic Map
South side of the Moon
(425 x 463, 103 kilobytes) 		[Map: Potential landing site for MER 2003]
Gusev Crater, Mars
Map of potential landing site for the 2003 Mars Exploration Rover mission
597 x 540, 189 kilobytes 		[Photo: Mars Global Viking Orbiter Image Mosaic] Mars Valles Marineris Hemisphere
Viking Orbiter Image Mosaic
(500 x 500, 50 kilobytes)
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