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Towards a planetary spatial data infrastructure

Planetary science is the study of planets, moons, irregular bodies such as asteroids and the processes that create and modify them. Like terrestrial sciences, planetary science research is heavily dependent on collecting, processing and archiving large quantities of spatial data to support a range of activities. To address the complexity of storing, discovering, accessing, and utilizing spatial da
Authors
Jason Laura, Trent M. Hare, Lisa R. Gaddis, Robin L. Fergason, James Skinner, Justin Hagerty, Brent Archinal

Shaler: in situ analysis of a fluvial sedimentary deposit on Mars

This paper characterizes the detailed sedimentology of a fluvial sandbody on Mars for the first time and interprets its depositional processes and palaeoenvironmental setting. Despite numerous orbital observations of fluvial landforms on the surface of Mars, ground-based characterization of the sedimentology of such fluvial deposits has not previously been possible. Results from the NASA Mars Scie
Authors
Lauren A. Edgar, Sanjeev Gupta, David M. Rubin, Kevin W. Lewis, Gary A. Kocurek, Ryan Anderson, James F. Bell, Gilles Dromart, Kenneth S. Edgett, John P. Grotzinger, Craig Hardgrove, Linda C. Kah, Richard A. LeVeille, Michael C. Malin, Nicholas Mangold, Ralph E. Milliken, Michelle Minitti, Marisa C. Palucis, Melissa Rice, Scott K. Rowland, Juergen Schieber, Kathryn M. Stack, Dawn Y. Sumner, Roger C. Wiens, Rebecca M.E. Williams, Amy J. Williams

The morphology of transverse aeolian ridges on Mars

A preliminary survey of publicly released high resolution digital terrain models (DTMs) produced by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter identified transverse aeolian ridges (TARs) in 154 DTMs in latitudes from 50°S to 40°N. Consistent with previous surveys, the TARs identified in HiRISE DTMs are found at all elevations, irrespective of the
Authors
Paul Geissler, Justin T. Wilgus

Geomorphological evidence for ground ice on dwarf planet Ceres

Five decades of observations of Ceres suggest that the dwarf planet has a composition similar to carbonaceous meteorites and may have an ice-rich outer shell protected by a silicate layer. NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has detected ubiquitous clays, carbonates and other products of aqueous alteration across the surface of Ceres, but surprisingly it has directly observed water ice in only a few areas. Her
Authors
Britney E. Schmidt, Kynan H.G. Hughson, Heather T. Chilton, Jennifer E. C. Scully, Thomas Platz, Andreas Nathues, Hanna Sizemore, Michael T. Bland, Shane Byrne, Simone Marchi, David O'Brien, Norbert Schorghofer, Harald Hiesinger, Ralf Jaumann, Jan Hendrick Pasckert, Justin D. Lawrence, Debra Buzckowski, Julie C. Castillo-Rogez, Mark V. Sykes, Paul M. Schenk, Maria-Cristina DeSanctis, Giuseppe Mitri, Michelangelo Formisano, Jian-Yang Li, Vishnu Reddy, Lucille Le Corre, Christopher T. Russell, Carol A. Raymond

Crater density differences: Exploring regional resurfacing, secondary crater populations, and crater saturation equilibrium on the moon

The global population of lunar craters >20 km in diameter was analyzed by Head et al., (2010) to correlate crater distribution with resurfacing events and multiple impactor populations. The work presented here extends the global crater distribution analysis to smaller craters (5–20 km diameters, n = 22,746). Smaller craters form at a higher rate than larger craters and thus add granularity to age
Authors
R. Z. Povilaitis, M. S. Robinson, C. H. van der Bogert, Harald Hiesinger, H. M. Meyer, Lillian R. Ostrach

Large crater clustering tool

In this paper we present the Large Crater Clustering (LCC) tool set, an ArcGIS plugin that supports the quantitative approximation of a primary impact location from user-identified locations of possible secondary impact craters or the long-axes of clustered secondary craters. The identification of primary impact craters directly supports planetary geologic mapping and topical science studies where
Authors
Jason Laura, James A. Skinner, Marc A. Hunter

Diagenetic silica enrichment and late-stage groundwater activity in Gale crater, Mars

Diagenetic silica enrichment in fracture-associated halos that crosscut lacustrine and unconformably overlying aeolian sedimentary bedrock is observed on the lower north slope of Aeolis Mons in Gale crater, Mars. The diagenetic silica enrichment is colocated with detrital silica enrichment observed in the lacustrine bedrock yet extends into a considerably younger, unconformably draping aeolian san
Authors
Jens Frydenvang, Patrick J. Gasda, Joel A. Hurowitz, John P. Grotzinger, Roger C. Wiens, Horton E. Newsom, Ken S. Edgett, Jessica Watkins, John C. Bridges, Sylvestre Maurice, Martin R. Fisk, Jeffrey R. Johnson, William Rapin, Nathan Stein, Sam M. Clegg, S. P. Schwenzer, C. Bedford, P. Edwards, Nicolas Mangold, Agnès Cousin, Ryan Anderson, Valerie Payre, David Vaniman, David Blake, Nina L. Lanza, Sanjeev Gupta, Jason K. Van Beek, Violaine Sautter, Pierre-Yves Meslin, Melissa Rice, Ralf Milliken, Ralf Gellert, Lucy Thompson, Ben C. Clark, Dawn Y. Sumner, Abigail A. Fraeman, Kjartan M Kinch, Morten B. Madsen, Igor Mitofranov, Insoo Jun, Fred J. Calef, Ashwin R. Vasavada

Feasibility study for the quantitative assessment of mineral resources in asteroids

This study was undertaken to determine if the U.S. Geological Survey’s process for conducting mineral resource assessments on Earth can be applied to asteroids. Successful completion of the assessment, using water and iron resources to test the workflow, has resulted in identification of the minimal adjustments required to conduct full resource assessments beyond Earth. We also identify the types
Authors
Laszlo P. Keszthelyi, Justin Hagerty, Amanda Bowers, Karl J. Ellefsen, Ian Ridley, Trude King, David Trilling, Nicholas Moskovitz, Will Grundy

Interoperability in planetary research for geospatial data analysis

For more than a decade there has been a push in the planetary science community to support interoperable methods for accessing and working with geospatial data. Common geospatial data products for planetary research include image mosaics, digital elevation or terrain models, geologic maps, geographic location databases (e.g., craters, volcanoes) or any data that can be tied to the surface of a pla
Authors
Trent M. Hare, Angelo P. Rossi, Alessandro Frigeri, Chiara Marmo

Terrestrial subaqueous seafloor dunes: Possible analogs for Venus

Dunes on Venus, first discovered with Magellan Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) in the early 1990s, have fueled discussions about the viability of Venusian dunes and aeolian grain transport. Confined to two locations on Venus, the existence of the interpreted dunes provides evidence that there could be transportable material being mobilized into aeolian bedforms at the surface. However, because of t
Authors
Lynn D.V. Neakrase, Martina Klose, Timothy N. Titus

The vanishing cryovolcanoes of Ceres

Ahuna Mons is a 4 km tall mountain on Ceres interpreted as a geologically young cryovolcanic dome. Other possible cryovolcanic features are more ambiguous, implying that cryovolcanism is only a recent phenomenon or that other cryovolcanic structures have been modified beyond easy identification. We test the hypothesis that Cerean cryovolcanic domes viscously relax, precluding ancient domes from re
Authors
Michael M. Sori, Shane Byrne, Michael T. Bland, Ali Bramson, Anton Ermakov, Christoper Hamilton, Katharina Otto, Ottaviano Ruesch, Christopher Russell

Connecting the dots: Preprocessing Apollo 15 panoramic camera images for photogrammetric control

No abstract available.
Authors
Kenneth L. Edmundson, Brent A. Archinal, Tammy L. Becker, J.A. Mapel, Mark S. Robinson, M.R. Shepherd