Revealing Active Mars with HiRISE Digital Terrain Models

Abstract

Many discoveries of active surface processes on Mars have been made due to the availability of repeat high-resolution images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. HiRISE stereo images are used to make digital terrain models (DTMs) and orthorectified images (orthoimages). HiRISE DTMs and orthoimage time series have been crucial for advancing the study of active processes such as recurring slope lineae, dune migration, gully activity, and polar processes. We describe the process of making HiRISE DTMs, orthoimage time series, DTM mosaics, and the difference of DTMs, specifically using the ISIS/SOCET Set workflow. HiRISE DTMs are produced at a 1 and 2 m ground sample distance, with a corresponding estimated vertical precision of tens of cm and ∼1 m, respectively. To date, more than 6000 stereo pairs have been acquired by HiRISE and, of these, more than 800 DTMs and 2700 orthoimages have been produced and made available to the public via the Planetary Data System. The intended audiences of this paper are producers, as well as users, of HiRISE DTMs and orthoimages. We discuss the factors that determine the effective resolution, as well as the quality, precision, and accuracy of HiRISE DTMs, and provide examples of their use in time series analyses of active surface processes on Mars.

Groundwater‐Controlled Deposition of Equatorial Layered Deposits in Central Arabia Terra, Mars

“…(2014, 2008). The resulting measurements had an average error of ±0.4 m due to both the vertical resolution of the DEMs (<0.5 m McEwen et al., 2007; Sutton et al., 2022) and erosion of the layer edges (Annex & Lewis, 2020; Schmidt et al., 2021). The quality of the CTX measurements has been controlled in the area where the HiRISE stereo‐pair used in Jiji overlaps the CTX stereo‐pair (Table S1 in Supporting Information ).…”

“…Layer thicknesses were obtained by measuring elevation and distance between each layer along a line parallel to the slope following the method of Schmidt et al (2018Schmidt et al ( , 2021 and Fueten et al (2014Fueten et al ( , 2008. The resulting measurements had an average error of ±0.4 m due to both the vertical resolution of the DEMs (<0.5 m McEwen et al, 2007;Sutton et al, 2022) and erosion of the layer edges (Annex & Lewis, 2020;Schmidt et al, 2021). The quality of the CTX measurements has been controlled in the area where the HiRISE stereo-pair used in Jiji overlaps the CTX stereo-pair (Table S1 in Supporting Information S1).…”

Differentiating Fissure‐Fed Lava Flow Types and Facies Using RADAR and LiDAR: An Example From the 2014–2015 Holuhraun Lava Flow‐Field

“…In addition to the LiDAR data, we analyzed the meter-scale roughness of the three lava facies using a DEM (2 m/pixel) (Figure 14) acquired by the ArcticDEM project (Polar Geospatial Center, 2017). It has greater coverage than the LiDAR data used in this study, and although its resolution is coarser, it is more comparable to DEM data sets produced from stereo-pairs of high-resolution images of other worlds (Sutton et al, 2022), such as those taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera (McEwen et al, 2007) and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Narrow-Angle Camera (Chin et al, 2007). From the ArcticDEM data, we were able to extract RMS slope and H values at a scale of 2-12 m (Table 3).…”

Martian Araneiforms: A Review

“…MRO's ground tracks are closely spaced at the south pole, and so repeat images, with a few days‐to‐weeks separation, can monitor seasonal surface change, including fan and spot development and trough growth, over short temporal baselines (C. J. Hansen et al., 2010; McEwen et al., 2007). Using the spacecraft's ability to roll off‐nadir and generate stereo pairs, we have been able to create Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) to study both the small‐scale profiles of the surfaces surrounding araneiforms, as well as their individual negative topographies (C. J. Hansen et al., 2010; Sutton et al., 2022).…”

“…Using the spacecraft's ability to roll off-nadir and generate stereo pairs, we have been able to create Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) to study both the small-scale profiles of the surfaces surrounding araneiforms, as well as their individual negative topographies (C. J. Hansen et al, 2010;Sutton et al, 2022).…”