Detection and classification of skylights on the flank of Elysium Mons, Mars

DeepLandforms: A Deep Learning Computer Vision Toolset Applied to a Prime Use Case for Mapping Planetary Skylights

“…As mentioned before, pits and skylights may have different shapes and dimensions on Earth and other planetary bodies (Cushing et al, 2015;Hong et al, 2015;F. Sauro et al, 2020;Sharma & Srivastava, 2021;Whitten & Martin, 2019), yet maintain almost all the characteristics. The classification proposed in Figure 3 is an expansion of the classification proposed by Cushing et al (Cushing, 2017;Cushing et al, 2015) and is based only on a qualitative morphological analysis by observing the visual appearances of the features characteristic of pits and skylight, without taking into account morphometric properties.…”

“…On other planetary bodies, such as Mars and the Moon, their formation mechanisms are still debated. As mentioned before, pits and skylights may have different shapes and dimensions on Earth and other planetary bodies (Cushing et al., 2015; Hong et al., 2015; F. Sauro et al., 2020; Sharma & Srivastava, 2021; Whitten & Martin, 2019), yet maintain almost all the characteristics. The classification proposed in Figure 3 is an expansion of the classification proposed by Cushing et al.…”

“…Others, not only investigate morphological properties but also perform comparative analyses and numerical modeling (Guimpier et al., 2021), or in‐depth analyses of Mars's surface processes (Guallini et al., 2018; Luzzi et al., 2020). These surface processesinclude skylight, pits (Barlow et al., 2017; Cushing, 2017; Cushing et al., 2015; Haruyama et al., 2009; Michikami et al., 2014; Sharma & Srivastava, 2021; Wagner & Robinson, 2014; Wyrick, 2004; Xiao et al., 2014), and pit chains (Wyrick, 2004). Further works involve the application of advanced techniques, such as Structure‐from‐Motion, (Le Mouélic et al., 2020; Micheletti et al., 2015; Muller et al., 2021; Y. Wang et al., 2021), Shape‐from‐Shading (SfS) (Alexandrov & Beyer, 2018; Lohse et al., 2006) and Machine Learning for object detection and classification (Barrett et al., 2022; Dundar et al., 2019; Hipperson et al., 2020; Hu et al., 2021; Lee, 2019; Nodjoumi et al., 2021; Palafox et al., 2017; Rashno et al., 2017; Silburt et al., 2019; Wilhelm et al., 2020).…”

“…Similarly to lava tubes morphologies, landslides (Hungr et al, 2014) and sinkholes (Parise, 2019) formation and driving mechanisms are deeply interconnected to gravity, geological settings, and atmospherical characteristics. These landforms are found bothon Mars (Bardabelias et al, 2020;Cushing et al, 2007;De Blasio, 2011;Guimpier et al, 2021;Hooper & Smart, 2013;Sharma & Srivastava, 2021), as well as on Earth (Acharya et al, 2006;Díaz Michelena et al, 2020;Gutiérrez et al, 2008;Hungr et al, 2014;Jiang, 2020;Parise, 2019;Van Den Eeckhaut et al, 2007;Youssef et al, 2012) thus may have common formation mechanisms.…”

Detection and Classification of Potential Caves on the Flank of Elysium Mons, Mars

“…Unlike any impact craters, they are devoid of elevated rims, ejecta blanket, and rays (Figure 1). Further, the special pits show a warmer appearance than the surrounding area at nighttime Jung et al 2014;Sharma et al 2019;Sharma & Srivastava 2021) because heat from the outer surface is easily radiated while the loss of heat stored inside a cave is greatly inhibited and the cave radiates most of the heat energy through the special pits in nighttime (Antoine et al 2009(Antoine et al , 2011Lopez et al 2012), therefore special pits are considered as potential caves. We relied on the nighttime THEMIS infrared (IR) data of the northern summer season (Solar Longitude; Ls 90-180) for thermal observations.…”