Mars Observer Radar Altimeter Radiometer (MORAR)

Abstract

The Mars Observer Project will permit the advancement of the state of the topographic and hypsometric knowledge of Mars to a level of 10 m or better over the surface of the planet Mars, the measurement of microwave surface brightness temperature of Mars with an accuracy of 15 to 20 K over 24 hours, and the measurement, globally, of surface returned power related to radar cross section with an accuracy of 1 dB and a repeatability of .5 dB. The MORAR Hardware Development, Ground Data Processing, and the Mission Operations will allow the accomplishment of these scientific objectives to define globally the topography of Mars at sufficient vertical resolution and spatial scale to address both large-scale geophysical and small-scale geologic problems, and to obtain global surface electrical and scattering properties of the upper several centimeters of the Martian surface for assessment of the composition, physical state, and volatile distribution of the surface.