Mars MSL Gale Merged DEM 1m v3

Product Information:

This digital elevation model (DEM) was initially created as an assessment tool for the entry, descent, and landing (EDL) analysis conducted by the Mars Science Laborarory (MSL) engineering team to assess Gale crater as a safe landing site for the rover. The DEM is built up from High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC), Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) Context Camera (CTX), and High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) DEMs all tied to a Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) DEM. Georeferencing was manually done from CTX to HRSC, then HiRISE to CTX or overlapping pre-georefererenced HiRISE. Pixel resolution is one meter per pixel (m).

DEMS were created using the following HiRISE stereo pairs (USGS processing designations/names in quotes):

ESP_024234_1755, ESP_024300_1755 'West Gap'; PSP_009650_1755, PSP_009716_1755, 'West'; PSP_010573_1755, PSP_010639_1755, 'Center'; PSP_009505_1755, PSP_009571_1755, 'G2' (Landed in this stereo pair.); ESP_011417_1755, ESP_011562_1755, 'East'; ESP_018854_1755, ESP_018920_1755, 'West of Center'; ESP_023957_1755, ESP_024023_1755, 'Center Gap'; ESP_024102_1755, ESP_025368_1755, 'East Gap'; PSP_009149_1755, PSP_009294_1755, 'Traverse'; ESP_012551_1755, ESP_012841_1755, 'T2'; PSP_001488_1755, PSP_001752_1755, 'T1'; ESP_019698_1755, ESP_019988_1755, 'T3'

Mission and Instrument Information:

Mars Global Surveyor was the first successful U.S. mission launched to Mars since the Viking mission in 1976 (Albee et al., 2001). After a 20-year absence at the planet, MGS launched on November 7, 1996 and ushered in a new era of Mars exploration with its five science investigations. The Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) created the most accurate global topographic map of any planet in the solar system, giving scientists elevation maps precise to within about 30 centimeters (1 foot) in the vertical dimension. Data from the laser altimeter identified pathways for the flow of past water and the locations, sizes, and volumes of watersheds (NASA JPL, 2010).

Mars Express is a mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) it launched in June 2003 onboard a Soyuz-Fregat launcher from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) is imaging the entire planet in full color, 3D and with a resolution of about 10 meters. Selected areas will be imaged at 2-meter resolution. One of the camera's greatest strengths will be the unprecedented pointing accuracy achieved by combining images at the two different resolutions. Another will be the 3D imaging which will reveal the topography of Mars in full color (ESA, 2010).

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter launched August 12, 2005 and arrived at Mars on March 10, 2006. The mission has shown unprecedented detail in orbital images of Mars. The Context Camera (CTX) is currently orbiting Mars and acquiring grayscale (black & white) images at 6 meters per pixel scale over a swath 30 kilometers wide. The Hi Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE camera) is a pushbroom imaging system featuring a 0.5 m aperture telescope with a 12 m focal effective length and 14 CCD detectors capable of generating images of up to 20,000 cross-scan observation pixels and 65,000 unbinned scan lines. The HiRISE instrument capabilities include the acquisition of observations of the Mars surface from orbit with a ground sampling dimension between 25 and 32 cm (PDS IMG, 2018a).

The Mars Science Laboratory mission's Curiosity rover, the most technologically advanced rover ever built, landed in Mars' Gale Crater in August, 2012 using a series of complicated landing maneuvers never before attempted. The specialized landing sequence, which employed a giant parachute, a jet-controlled descent vehicle and a bungee-like apparatus called a "sky crane," was devised because tested landing techniques used during previous rover missions could not safely accommodate the much larger and heavier rover (PDS IMG, 2018b; NASA, 2019).

Reference:

Albee, A. L., et al. (2001). Overview of the Mars Global Surveyor mission. Journal of Geophysical Research, 106(E10), 23291–23316. https://doi.org/10.1029/2000JE001306

European Space Agency (ESA) (2010). Mars Express. Mars Express Orbiter Instruments. https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Mars_Express/Mars_Express_instruments

Kirk, R.L., et al. and the HiRISE Team (2008). Ultrahigh resolution topographic mapping of Mars with MRO HiRISE stereo images: Meter-scale slopes of candidate Phoenix landing sites. Journal of Geophysical Research, 113(E3). https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JE003000

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) (2019). Mars Curiosity Rover. Timeline: Entry, Descent, and Landing. https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/timeline/edl/

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) (2010). Mars Global Surveyor. https://mars.nasa.gov/mgs/overview/

Planetary Data Systems (PDS) Cartography and Imaging Sciences (IMG) (2018a). Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). https://pds-imaging.jpl.nasa.gov/portal/mro_mission.html

Planetary Data Systems (PDS) Cartography and Imaging Sciences (IMG) (2018b). Mars Science Laboratory (MSL). https://pds-imaging.jpl.nasa.gov/portal/msl_mission.html

Recommended Citation:

Calef III, F.J. and Parker, T., 2016, MSL Gale Merged Orthophoto Mosaic, Publisher: PDS Annex, U.S. Geological Survey, http://bit.ly/MSL_Basemap

Publisher

MSL Team

Publication Date

20 October 2016

Author

Timothy Parker and Fred J. Calef III

Originator

JPL-Caltech, NASA, USGS Astrogeology Science Center, University of Arizona

Group

PDS

Added to Astropedia

25 October 2016

Modified

9 June 2022

General

Purpose

This DEM facilitates science and engineering operations conducted by the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), aka Curiosity rover, on Mars.

Geospatial Data Presentation Form

Digital Elevation Model, Grey Scale, Remote-sensing Data, Topographic Map, Landing Site Map

Series Id

Digital Elevation Model (DEM)

Edition

version 3

Online Linkage

https://planetarymaps.usgs.gov/mosaic/Mars/MSL/MSL_Gale_DEM_Mosaic_1m_v3.tif

Native Data Set Environment

GDAL, ESRI Arcinfo

Color

Black and White

Supplemental Information

http://mars.nasa.gov/msl/, http://hrscview.fu-berlin.de/, http://mars.nasa.gov/mro/mission/instruments/ctx/, http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/

Keywords

System

Mars

Target

Mars

Theme

Photogrammetry, Image Processing, Landing sites, Remote Sensing, Topography

Mission

Mars Express, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Mission Specific

Instrument

HRSC, CTX, HiRISE

Search Terms

MSL, DEM, DTM, HRSC, CTX, HiRISE, Landing Site Map, Gale, Curiosity

Contact and Distribution

Access Constraints

Please credit authors

Use Constraints

None

Data Status and Quality

Progress

In Work

Update Frequency

As needed

Logical Consistency Report

HRSC is controlled to MOLA and thus only as accurate as MOLA (~100m horizontal and ~1 m vertical accuracy).

Completeness Report

Where HiRISE stereo-coverage is lacking either CTX DEMs, HRSC DEMs and then lastly the MOLA 128ppd DEM was used. Elevation minimum = -4625.875, max=-322.56, std dev=984.73

Process Date

1 January 2011

Process Description

Georeferencing was manually done from CTX to HRSC (already registered to MOLA), then HiRISE to CTX.

Horizontal Positional Accuracy Value

100

Horizontal Positional Accuracy Report

Accurate to Control Net

Vertical Positional Accuracy Value

1

Vertical Positional Accuracy Report

Accurate to Control Net

Entity and Attribute Overview

This is a 32bit floating point DEM. A science mapping application will need to be used to visualize (e.g. a GIS like QGIS, Tuiview, ArcMap, ENVI, Global Mapper, etc.).

Entity and Attribute Detailed Description

Mars Global Surveyor: MOLA MEGDRs

Entity and Attribute Linkage

http://pds-geosciences.wustl.edu/missions/mgs/megdr.html

Lineage

PDS Status

PDS 3 Compatible

Source PDS Archive

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Source Originator

Planetary Data System and HRSC Archives

Source Title

MRO HiRISE and CTX and Mars Express HRSC Archives

Source Online Linkage

http://hrscview.fu-berlin.de/ , https://pds-imaging.jpl.nasa.gov/volumes/mro.html , https://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Mars_Express/The_mission , https://pds-imaging.jpl.nasa.gov/portal/mro_mission.html

Type of Source Media

Online

Geospatial Information

Feature Name

Gale crater

Minimum Latitude

-5.098652

Maximum Latitude

-4.129605

Minimum Longitude

137.124167

Maximum Longitude

137.680559

Direct Spatial Reference Method

Raster

Object Type

Pixel

Lines (pixels)

57440

Samples (pixels)

32980

Bit Type

32

Quad System

Mars 1:2M

Quad Name

Radius A

3396190

Radius C

3396190

Control Net

MOLA

Bands

1

Pixel Resolution (meters/pixel)

1

Altitude Resolution

1

Horizontal Coordinate System Units

Meters

Map Projection Name

Equirectangular

Latitude Type

Planetocentric

Longitude Direction

Positive East

Longitude Domain

-180 to 180