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At least 1,261 records · Page 70
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NASA NTRS1991

An analytic model for the Phobos surface

Analytic expressions are derived to model the surface topography and the normal to the surface of Phobos. The analytic expressions are comprised of a spherical harmonic expansion for the global figure of Phobos, augmented by addition terms for the large crater Stickney and other craters. Over 300 craters were measured in more than 100 Viking Orbiter images to produce the model. In general, the largest craters were measured since they have a significant effect on topography. The topographic model derived has a global spatial and topographic accuracy ranging from about 100 m in areas having the highest resolution and convergent, stereo coverage, up to 500 m in the poorest areas.

Duxbury, Thomas C.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Venus geology

The Magellan mission to Venus is reviewed. The scientific investigations conducted by 243-day cycles encompass mapping with a constant incidence angle for the radar, observing surface changes from one cycle to the next, and targeting young-looking volcanos. The topography of Venus is defined by the upper boundary of the crust and upwelling from lower domains. Tectonic features such as rift zones, linear mountain belts, ridge belts, and tesserae are described. The zones of tesserae are unique to the planet. Volcanism accounts for about 80 percent of the observed surface, the remainder being volcanic deposits which have been reworked by tectonism or impacts. Magellan data reveal about 900 impact craters with flow-like ejecta resulting from the fall of meteoroids. It is concluded that the age of the Venusian surface varies between 0 and 800 million years. Tectonic and volcanic activities dominate the formation of the Venus topography; such processes as weathering and erosion are relatively unimportant on Venus.

Mclaughlin, W. I.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Choice of image attribute for automated radargrammetry

This paper discusses SAR imaging with emphasis on radar backscatter properties. In studying how planetary surfaces modulate the radar cross-section, it is determined that both the amount of and variation in backscattered microwave energy provide the necessary cues (i.e., object shading and boundary information) for stereointerpretation. While past research into automated reconstruction of topography from radar stereopairs has concentrated on the use of shading, it is shown that boundary information may also be used successfully. How these attributes can be potentially misleading are discussed. This work suggests a process for generating high-quality topography maps from SAR imagery.

Matarese, Joseph R.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Mars elevation distribution

A Digital Terrain Model (DTM) of Mars was derived with both Mercator and Sinusoidal Equal-Area projections from the global topographic map of Mars (scale 1:15 million, contour interval 1 km). Elevations on the map are referred to Mars' topographic datum that is defined by the gravity field at a 6.1-millibar pressure surface with respect to the center of mass of Mars. The DTM has a resolution at the equator of 1/59.226 degrees (exactly 1 km) per pixel. By using the DTM, the volumetric distribution of Mars topography above and below the datum has previously been calculated. Three types of elevation distributions of Mars' topography were calculated from the same DTM: (1) the frequency distribution of elevations at the pixel resolution; (2) average elevations in increments of 6 degrees in both longitude and latitude; and (3) average elevations in 36 separate blocks, each covering 30 degrees of latitude and 60 degrees of longitude.

Wu, Sherman S. C.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Are the Equatorial Highlands on Venus formed by mantle plume diapirs?

Several origins have been proposed for the Equatorial Highlands on Venus, including spreading centers and plume-related uplift. Recently, the spreading center hypothesis has been shown to be incompatible with the measured geoid and topography variations over the highlands. It is also difficult to reconcile the range of geoid anomalies over the highlands with a steady-state plum model. There is a large variation in admittance values (geoid/topography ratios) among highland regions. This variation suggests that different uplifted regions represent distinct stages in a time dependent process. It has been proposed that the Beta Regio, Thetis Regio, Ovda Regio, and Artemis Plateau Equatorial Highland Regions are formed by large mantel diapirs. According to this model, topography and geoid height decrease with increasing age of the highland, as the diapir spreads out beneath the lithosphere. In order to determine if the diapir model is compatible with the sequence of tectonic and volcanic events recorded in the surface geology of the highlands, a series of finite difference calculations were made of the ascent and partial melting of a spherical thermal diapir in an incompressible, infinite Prandtl number, isoviscous fluid.

Olson, Peter↗
NASA NTRS1992

Flood surge through the Lunae Planum Outflow Complex, Mars

It is shown that the Maja outflow on Mars was released as a catastrophic outburst from Juventae Chasma. The flood surge traveled the first two-thirds of its length as a semiconfined sheetflood in a broad trough formed by the eastward-sloping Lunae Planum surface and the Xanthe Terra highlands to the east. At its northernmost extent, the flow ponded on the northern Lunae Planum surface. As the flow impounded on the upper Maja lake, waters rose to spill over the Xanthe Terra revetment onto the lower Chryse Planitia surface. The initial spillover crossed Xanthe Terra as sheetflood flow that muted topography over which it passed. The sheetflood was rapidly broken by the irregular topography to cut a complex series of anastomosing channels. A few main channels on eventually captured most of the drainage and local ponds formed in breached craters and irregular basins. The Maja Valles canyon eventually captured the remaining flow at the expense of all other channels.

De Hon, R. A.↗
NASA NTRS1992

The Mars Observer laser altimeter investigation

The primary objective of the Mars Observer laser altimeter (MOLA) investigation is to determine globally the topography of Mars at a level suitable for addressing problems in geology and geophysics. Secondary objectives are to characterize the 1064-nm wavelength surface reflectivity of Mars to contribute to analyses of global surface mineralogy and seasonal albedo changes, to assist in addressing problems in atmospheric circulation, and to provide geodetic control and topographic context for the assessment of possible future Mars landing sites. The principal components of MOLA are a diode-pumped, neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet laser transmitter that emits 1064-nm wavelength laser pulses, a 0.5-m-diameter telescope, a silicon avalanche photodiode detector, and a time interval unit with 10-ns resolution. MOLA will provide measurements of the topography of Mars within approximately 160-m footprints and a center-to-center along-track foot print spacing of 300 m along the Mars Observer subspacecraft ground track. The elevation measurements will be quantized with 1.5 m vertical resolution before correction for orbit- and pointing induced errors. MOLA profiles will be assembled into a global 0.2 deg x 0.2 deg grid that will be referenced to Mars' center of mass with an absolute accuracy of approximately 30 m. Other data products will include a global grid of topographic gradients, corrected individual profiles, and a global 0.2 deg x 0.2 deg grid of 1064-nm surface reflectivity.

Zuber, M. T.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Imaging radar investigations of the Sudbury structure

This paper reports preliminary results of airborne imaging radar studies of the Sudbury structure carried out in preparation for a CCRS European Remote Sensing Satellite (ERS-1) investigation. The data used were synthetic aperture radar (SAR) C-band (5.66 cm) images acquired from about 6 km altitude in 1987. They cover the Sudbury area in both wide and narrow swath modes, with east-west flight paths and north-south illumination directions. Narrow swath resolution is 6 m in range and azimuth; wide swath resolution is 20 m in range and 10 m in azimuth. The STAR imagery has proven highly effective for field use, providing excellent rendition of topography and topographically expressed structure. Reasons for this include the illumination geometry, notably the look azimuth normal to the long axis of the Sudbury structure and Penokean fold axes, the good spatial resolution, and the short wavelength. Forested areas in the Sudbury area tend to be uniformly rough at C-band wavelength, with backscatter dominated by local incidence angle (i.e., topography). Field work using the SAR imagery has to date been concentrated in the North Range and Superior Province as far north as the Benny greenstone belt. This area was chosen for initial investigation of the original size and shape of the Sudbury structure because the effects of the Penokean Orogeny were minimal there. Field work using SAR indicates that there has been little postimpact deformation of the North Range or adjacent Superior Province rock. There appears to be no evidence for an outer ring concentric with the North Range as indicated by early Landsat imagery. The apparent ring shown by Landsat is visible on the SAR imagery as the intersection of two regional fracture patterns not related to the Sudbury structure. There is no outer ring visible southwest of the structure. This can reasonably be explained by Penokean deformation, but there is no outer ring to the northeast cutting the relatively undeformed Huronian sediments of the Cobalt Embayment.

Lowman, P. D.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Is Ishtar Terra a thickened basaltic crust?

The mountain belts of Ishtar Terra and the surrounding tesserae are interpreted as compressional regions. The gravity and surface topography of western Ishtar Terra suggest a thick crust of 60-110 km that results from crustal thickening through tectonic processes. Underthrusting was proposed for the regions along Danu Montes and Itzpapalotl Tessera. Crustal thickening was suggested for the entire Ishtar Terra. In this study, three lithospheric models with total thicknesses of 40.75 and 120 km and initial crustal thicknesses of 3.9 and 18 km are examined. These models could be produced by partial melting and chemical differentiation in the upper mantle of a colder, an Earth-like, and a hotter Venus having temperatures of respectively 1300 C, 1400 C, and 1500 C at the base of their thermal boundary layers associated with mantle convection. The effects of basalt-granulite-eclogite transformation (BGET) on the surface topography of a thickening basaltic crust is investigated adopting the experimental phase diagram and density variations through the phase transformation.

Arkani-Hamed, Jafar↗
NASA NTRS1992

Western Aphrodite Terra, tectonics, geology, and line-of-sight gravity

Aphrodite Terra is the largest area of high-standing topography on Venus, and isostatic considerations strongly suggest that this high topography is supported at least in part by thickened crust. Previous studies of line-of-sight gravity data from the Pioneer Venus Orbiter indicate rapidly changing apparent depths of compensation across Aphrodite Terra. Magellan imaging data provide the first detailed images of this region, and we are mapping the region along Pioneer Venus orbit 440 to investigate whether the changing apparent depths of compensation correlate with changes in surficial tectonics. Preliminary mapping of geological features on Magellan images along the path of Pioneer Venus orbit 440 do not indicate a first-order correlation among surface features and changes in the apparent depth of compensation of line-of-sight gravity data. The apparent depth of compensation appears to be most variable in regions dominated by tessera, but not all areas of tessera have distinct gravity signatures. There is a weak correlation among areas in which impact craters are relatively common and areas in which the observed and predicted gravity anomalies are poorly correlated.

Hays, John E.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Estimates of elastic plate thicknesses beneath large volcanos on Venus

Megellan radar imaging and topography data are now available for a number of volcanos on Venus greater than 100 km in radius. These data can be examined to reveal evidence of the flexural response of the lithosphere to the volcanic load. On Earth, flexure beneath large hotspot volcanos results in an annual topographic moat that is partially to completely filled in by sedimentation and mass wasting from the volcano's flanks. On Venus, erosion and sediment deposition are considered to be negligible at the resolution of Magellan images. Thus, it may be possible to observe evidence of flexure by the ponding of recent volcanic flows in the moat. We also might expect to find topographic signals from unfilled moats surrounding large volcanos on Venus, although these signals may be partially obscured by regional topography. Also, in the absence of sedimentation, tectonic evidence of deformation around large volcanos should be evident except where buried by very young flows. We use analytic solutions in axisymmetric geometry for deflections and stresses resulting from loading of a plate overlying an inviscid fluid. Solutions for a set of disk loads are superimposed to obtain a solution for a conical volcano. The deflection of the lithosphere produces an annular depression or moat, the extent of which can be estimated by measuring the distance from the volcano's edge to the first zero crossing or to the peak of the flexural arch. Magellan altimetry data records (ARCDRs) from data cycle 1 are processed using the GMT mapping and graphics software to produce topographic contour maps of the volcanos. We then take topographic profiles that cut across the annular and ponded flows seen on the radar images. By comparing the locations of these flows to the predicted moat locations from a range of models, we estimate the elastic plate thickness that best fits the observations, together with the uncertainty in that estimate.

Mcgovern, Patrick J.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Structural characteristics and tectonics of northeastern Tellus Regio and Meni Tessera

The Tellus Regio-Meni Tessera region is an interesting highland area characterized by large areas of complex ridged terrain or tessera terrain. The area was previously studied from the Venera 15/16 data, typical characteristics of complex tessera terrain of Tellus Regio were analyzed, and a formation mechanism was proposed. Apparent depths of compensation of approximately 30-50 km were calculated from Pioneer Venus gravity and topography data. These values indicate predominant Airy compensation for the area. Regional stresses and lithospheric structures were defined from analysis of surface structures, topography, and gravity data. In this work we concentrate on northeastern Tellus Regio and Meni Tessera, which are situated north and west of Tellus Regio. Structural features and relationships are analyzed in order to interpret tectonic history of the area. Study area was divided into three subareas: northeastern Tellus Regio, Meni Tessera, and the deformed plain between them.

Toermaenen, T.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Ocean dynamics in the Nordic Seas using satellite altimetry

The main objective of this TOPEX/POSEIDON project is to integrate the accurately measured sea surface topography, as resolved by both TOPEX/POSEIDON radar altimeters, into the above-mentioned quantitative studies of the short- and long-term variations in the mesoscale ocean dynamics of the Nordic Seas south of 66 deg N. This implies: (1) comparison and validation of the capability to resolve the general basin-scale circulation and the mesoscale variability by, respectively, radar altimeters and numerical ocean circulation models; (2) calibration and validation of the altimeter-derived sea surface topography against in situ measurements from research vessels and moorings, particularly under extreme wind and wave conditions; and (3) improved monitoring and understanding of the flux variations between the North Atlantic and the Nordic Seas, both on the short and seasonal time scales.

Pettersson, Lasse H.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Lunar Observer Laser Altimeter observations for lunar base site selection

One of the critical datasets for optimal selection of future lunar landing sites is local- to regional-scale topography. Lunar base site selection will require such data for both engineering and scientific operations purposes. The Lunar Geoscience Orbiter or Lunar Observer is the ideal precursory science mission from which to obtain this required information. We suggest that a simple laser altimeter instrument could be employed to measure local-scale slopes, heights, and depths of lunar surface features important to lunar base planning and design. For this reason, we have designed and are currently constructing a breadboard of a Lunar Observer Laser Altimeter (LOLA) instrument capable of acquiring contiguous-footprint topographic profiles with both 30-m and 300-m along-track resolution. This instrument meets all the severe weight, power, size, and data rate limitations imposed by Observer-class spacecraft. In addition, LOLA would be capable of measuring the within-footprint vertical roughness of the lunar surface, and the 1.06-micron relative surface reflectivity at normal incidence. We have used airborne laser altimeter data for a few representative lunar analog landforms to simulate and analyze LOLA performance in a 100-km lunar orbit. We demonstrate that this system in its highest resolution mode (30-m diameter footprints) would quantify the topography of all but the very smallest lunar landforms. At its global mapping resolution (300-m diameter footprints), LOLA would establish the topographic context for lunar landing site selection by providing the basis for constructing a 1-2 km spatial resolution global, geodetic topographic grid that would contain a high density of observations (e.g., approximately 1000 observations per each 1 deg by 1 deg cell at the lunar equator). The high spatial and vertical resolution measurements made with a LOLA-class instrument on a precursory Lunar Observer would be highly synergistic with high-resolution imaging datasets, and will allow for direct quantification of critical slopes, heights, and depths of features visible in images of potential lunar base sites.

Garvin, James B.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Cartography of asteroids and comet nuclei from low resolution data

High resolution images of non-spherical objects, such as Viking images of Phobos and the anticipated Galileo images of Gaspra, lend themselves to conventional planetary cartographic procedures: control network analysis, stereophotogrammetry, image mosaicking in 2D or 3D, and airbrush mapping. There remains the problem of a suitable map projection for bodies which are extremely elongated or irregular in shape. Many bodies will soon be seen at lower resolution (5-30 pixels across the disk) in images from speckle interferometry, the Hubble Space Telescope, ground-based radar, distinct spacecraft encounters, and closer images degraded by smear. Different data with similar effective resolutions are available from stellar occultations, radar or lightcurve convex hulls, lightcurve modeling of albedo variations, and cometary jet modeling. With such low resolution, conventional methods of shape determination will be less useful or will fail altogether, leaving limb and terminator topography as the principal sources of topographic information. A method for shape determination based on limb and terminator topography was developed. It has been applied to the nucleus of Comet Halley and the jovian satellite Amalthea. The Amalthea results are described to give an example of the cartographic possibilities and problems of anticipated data sets.

Stooke, Philip J.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Tunneling magnetic force microscopy

We have developed a powerful new tool for studying the magnetic patterns on magnetic recording media. This was accomplished by modifying a conventional scanning tunneling microscope. The fine-wire probe that is used to image surface topography was replaced with a flexible magnetic probe. Images obtained with these probes reveal both the surface topography and the magnetic structure. We have made a thorough theoretical analysis of the interaction between the probe and the magnetic fields emanating from a typical recorded surface. Quantitative data about the constituent magnetic fields can then be obtained. We have employed these techniques in studies of two of the most important issues of magnetic record: data overwrite and maximizing data-density. These studies have shown: (1) overwritten data can be retrieved under certain conditions; and (2) improvements in data-density will require new magnetic materials. In the course of these studies we have developed new techniques to analyze magnetic fields of recorded media. These studies are both theoretical and experimental and combined with the use of our magnetic force scanning tunneling microscope should lead to further breakthroughs in the field of magnetic recording.

Burke, Edward R.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Radar studies of the West Antarctic ice streams

A collaboration has carried out measurements of ice thickness at the mouth of Ice Streams D and E, West Antarctica, using a surface-based impulse radar. These studies were undertaken as a part of the continuing effort to understand the state of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and its response to climate change. Thickness measurements will be used in the mass balance calculation currently in progress and to better understand features in the surface topography seen at low-angle sun illumination in the satellite imagery. Results show that the discharge areas of Ice Streams D and E are thickening by approximately 1 meter per year, and thus that these ice streams are likely losing mass. Aperiodic wavelike features in the surface topography are described, which pose interesting questions about migration of the grounding line and ice-stream dynamics.

Jacobel, Robert W.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Geological correlations with the interior density structure of Venus

The paper develops a geophysical model for Venus that allows separation of topography supported by shallow density anomalies, e.g., crustal thickening, from that interpreted to be caused by mantle convection, and produces estimates of the planforms of lithospheric density anomalies and the mantle convection pattern. The topography caused by these two planforms is compared to several global data sets compiled from analysis of Magellan data. The mantle convection pattern agrees qualitatively with numerical simulations by Bercovici et al. (1989) and shows isolated upwellings amidst a network of downwellings. Crustal thickening does not exhibit a similar pattern. Impact crater density is nearly uniform and does not correlate with either crustal thickening or the mantle convection patterns. Large volcanic structures exhibit a good but imperfect correlation with mantle upwellings. Coronae locations are anticorrelated with large upwellings and large downwellings. A scenario is proposed for global tectonics on Venus and its relationship to mantle convection.

Herrick, Robert R.↗