Randolph L Kirk, Ph.D.
Randolph Kirk’s research interests span both geoscience and mapping of planetary bodies. He has participated in many missions to the Moon, Venus, Mars, asteroids, comets, and icy satellites. He helped direct planetary mapping at the USGS since the early 1990s, and has developed practical methods for topomapping by shape from shading and by adapting commercial stereo workstations to planetary use.
Recent Accomplishments
- In 2020, NASA's Mars 2020 rover Perseverance landed in Jezero crater at a site mapped by the Astrogeology Science Center. Perseverence was the ninth Mars lander or rover to go to a site we mapped, all of which landed successfully. (Starting in 1962, 10 Mars landings attempted without USGS mapping failed for a variety of reasons. Just days before Perseverence the Chinese landerTianwen-1 became the first such mission to succeed.) Perseverance also carried our maps onboard and used them to guide its final descent, a technological first.
- We are helping to design and caibrate the Europa Imaging System (EIS) cameras for NASA's Europa Clipper mission and to develop software and procedures for making controlled image and topographic maps. As part of this task, we invented and demonstrated a new technique for correcting distortions in frame images that are read out line-by-line so that they can be used for precision mapping.
- We have used stereo images of Mars obtained by different cameras with pixel scales differing up to 50x to assess the resolution and precision of digital topographic models obtained under real-world (Mars) conditions. We are currently using similar techniques with images of Earth’s Moon to quantify how topographic models can be improved by photoclinometry (shape from shading) techniques using one or multiple images.
Education
- Ph.D., Planetary Science, Minor in Physics, California Institute of Technology, January 1987
- M.S., Planetary Science, California Institute of Technology, June 1984
- B.S., Physics, Stanford University, June 1981
Space Mission Participation
- Member, Europa Imaging System Science Team, May 2015–Present
- Member, ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter CaSSIS Science Team, August 2010–Present
- Member, LRO and Chandrayaan-1 Mini-RF Science Teams, July 2006–Present
- Member, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter HiRISE Science Team, December 2001–Present
- Member, Mars Exploration Rovers Science Team, August 2000–June 2018
- Associate, Deep Space 1 MICAS Science Team, March 2000–December 2002
- Participating Scientist, NEAR MSI/NIS Team, August 1999–July 2001
- Associate, Imager for Mars Pathfinder Science Team, July 1996–August 1998
- Member, Mars Express HRSC Science Team, January 2000–March 2020
- Associate, Mars 96 HRSC/WAOSS Science Team, March 1993–December 1996
- Member, Cassini RADAR Instrument Team, December 1990–September 2018
- Magellan Guest Investigator, October 1990–September 1994
- Associate, Voyager Imaging Science Team, 1989
Working Groups
- Member, IAU Working Group on Cartographic Coords & Rotational Elements, August 2012–present
- Member, NASA Lunar Geodesy/Cartography Working Group, December 2007–present
- Member, NASA Mars Geodesy/Cartography Working Group, June 1998–present
- Member, ISPRS Working Group “Planetary Mapping & Remote Sensing”, November 1996–present
- Chair, November 2000-October 2004, Co-Chair, Nove
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 163
Mountains on Titan observed by Cassini Radar
The Cassini Titan Radar mapper has observed elevated blocks and ridge-forming block chains on Saturn's moon Titan demonstrating high topography we term “mountains.” Summit flanks measured from the T3 (February 2005) and T8 (October 2005) flybys have a mean maximum slope of 37° and total elevations up to 1930 m as derived from a shape-from-shading model corrected for the probable effects of image r
Authors
Jani Radebaugh, Ralph D. Lorenz, Randolph L. Kirk, Jonathan I. Lunine, Ellen R. Stofan, Rosaly M.C. Lopes, Stephen D. Wall
Cartography for lunar exploration: Current status and planned missions
The initial spacecraft exploration of the Moon in the 1960s–70s yielded extensive data, primarily in the form of film and television images, that were used to produce a large number of hardcopy maps by conventional techniques. A second era of exploration, beginning in the early 1990s, has produced digital data including global multispectral imagery and altimetry, from which a new generation of di
Authors
Randolph L. Kirk, Brent A. Archinal, Lisa R. Gaddis, Mark R. Rosiek
Ultrahigh resolution topographic mapping of Mars with HiRISE stereo images: Methods and first results
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) arrived at Mars on 10 March 2006 and began its primary science phase in November. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) on MRO is the largest, most complex camera ever flown to another planet. Plans call for this scanner to image roughly 1% of Mars by area at a pixel scale of 0.3 m during the next Mars year. Among the thousands of images w
Authors
Randolph L. Kirk, Elpitha Howington-Kraus, Mark R. Rosiek, Debbie Cook, Jeffery A. Anderson, Kris J. Becker, Brent A. Archinal, Laszlo P. Keszthelyi, R. King, Alfred S. McEwen
Report on the final completion of the Unified Lunar Control Network 2005 and Lunar Topographic Model
In order to highlight this project to the extraterrestrial mapping community, we repeat here our earlier abstract [1], with a corrected Figure 2. A report describing the Unified Lunar Control Network 2005 and the files associated with that network is now available as an on-line USGS Open-File Report [2] at the location http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2006/1367/. A “Readme” file describes the available fil
Authors
Brent A. Archinal, Mark R. Rosiek, Randolph L. Kirk, Trent M. Hare, Bonnie L. Redding
First stereoscopic radar images of Titan
Saturn's giant, cloud-covered satellite Titan, larger than the planet Mercury, is the last major piece of unexplored real estate in the Solar system. The NASA/ESA Cassini spacecraft carries a variety of instruments that are being used to map the surface of Titan, including optical instruments that provide a global synoptic view and spectroscopic information, and microwave imager (Cassini Titan R
Authors
Randolph L. Kirk, Elpitha Howington-Kraus, K. L. Mitchell, S. Hensley, B.W. Stiles
Urgent processing and control of lunar data
There is an urgent, time-critical need to begin tying together (geodetically controlling) all past and current lunar data, and to establish the cartographic foundation needed to make maximum use of future planned lunar data. Proper control of lunar datails required to properly support both lunar science and exploration, and at present we know of no plans within NASA to fund such work adequately. T
Authors
Brent A. Archinal, Lisa R. Gaddis, Randolph L. Kirk, Trent M. Hare, Mark R. Rosiek
Resolution effects in radarclinometry
Data from the Cassini-Huygens mission, in particular images from the Cassini Titan Radar Mapper (RADAR) have revealed Saturn's giant moon, Titan to be a world whose geologic diversity and complexity approach those of the Earth itself. Estimates of topographic relief are, naturally, of enormous interest in the effort to understand the nature of Titan's surface features and quantify the processes by
Authors
Randolph L. Kirk, Jani Radebaugh
The HRSC DTM test
The High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC, [1]) is part of the orbiter payload on the Mars Express (MEX) mission of the European Space Agency (ESA), orbiting the Red Planet in a highly elliptical orbit since January 2004. For the first time in planetary exploration, a camera system has especially been designed to meet the requirements of photogrammetry and cartography for mapping the complete surfac
Authors
Christian Heipke, Jürgen Oberst, Jeorg Albertz, Maria Attwenger, Peter Dorninger, Egon Dorrer, M. Ewe, Stephan Gehrke, Klaus Gwinner, H. Hirschmuller, J.R. Kim, Randolph L. Kirk, H. Mayer, Jan-Peter Muller, Rajagopalan Rengarajan, M. Rentsch, R. Schmidt, Frank Scholten, J. Shan, Michael Spiegel, M. Wahlisch, Gerhard Neukum
Evaluating planetary digital terrain models-The HRSC DTM test
The High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) has been orbiting the planet Mars since January 2004 onboard the European Space Agency (ESA) Mars Express mission and delivers imagery which is being used for topographic mapping of the planet. The HRSC team has conducted a systematic inter-comparison of different alternatives for the production of high resolution digital terrain models (DTMs) from the mult
Authors
C. Heipke, J. Oberst, J. Albertz, M. Attwenger, P. Dorninger, E. Dorrer, M. Ewe, S. Gehrke, K. Gwinner, H. Hirschmuller, J.R. Kim, Randolph L. Kirk, H. Mayer, Jan-Peter Muller, R. Rengarajan, M. Rentsch, R. Schmidt, F. Scholten, J. Shan, M. Spiegel, M. Wahlisch, G. Neukum
Topography and geomorphology of the Huygens landing site on Titan
The Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer (DISR) aboard the Huygens Probe took several hundred visible-light images with its three cameras on approach to the surface of Titan. Several sets of stereo image pairs were collected during the descent. The digital terrain models constructed from those images show rugged topography, in places approaching the angle of repose, adjacent to flatter darker plains
Authors
Laurence A. Soderblom, Martin G. Tomasko, Brent A. Archinal, Tammy L. Becker, Michael W. Bushroe, Debbie Cook, Lyn R. Doose, Donna M. Galuszka, Trent M. Hare, Elpitha Howington-Kraus, Erich Karkoschka, Randolph L. Kirk, Jonathan I. Lunine, Elisabeth A. McFarlane, Bonnie L. Redding, Bashar Rizk, Mark R. Rosiek, Charles See, Peter H. Smith
Titan's surface from Cassini RADAR SAR and high resolution radiometry data of the first five flybys
The first five Titan flybys with Cassini's Synthetic Aperture RADAR (SAR) and radiometer are examined with emphasis on the calibration and interpretation of the high-resolution radiometry data acquired during the SAR mode (SAR-radiometry). Maps of the 2-cm wavelength brightness temperature are obtained coincident with the SAR swath imaging, with spatial resolution approaching 6 km. A preliminary c
Authors
F. Paganelli, Michael A. Janssen, B. Stiles, R. West, Ralf D. Lorenz, Jonathan I. Lunine, Stephen D. Wall, Philip S. Callahan, Rosaly M.C. Lopes, Ellen R. Stofan, Randolph L. Kirk, W.T.K. Johnson, L. Roth, Charles Elachi
The lakes and seas of Titan
No abstract available.
Authors
Rosaly M.C. Lopes, Karl L. Mitchell, Stephen D. Wall, Giuseppe Mitri, Michael Janssen, Steven J. Ostro, Randolph L. Kirk, Alexander G. Hayes, Ellen R. Stofan, Jonathan I. Lunine, Ralph D. Lorenz, Charles Wood, Jani Radebaugh, Philipe Paillou, H. Zebker, Flora Paganelli
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 163
Mountains on Titan observed by Cassini Radar
The Cassini Titan Radar mapper has observed elevated blocks and ridge-forming block chains on Saturn's moon Titan demonstrating high topography we term “mountains.” Summit flanks measured from the T3 (February 2005) and T8 (October 2005) flybys have a mean maximum slope of 37° and total elevations up to 1930 m as derived from a shape-from-shading model corrected for the probable effects of image r
Authors
Jani Radebaugh, Ralph D. Lorenz, Randolph L. Kirk, Jonathan I. Lunine, Ellen R. Stofan, Rosaly M.C. Lopes, Stephen D. Wall
Cartography for lunar exploration: Current status and planned missions
The initial spacecraft exploration of the Moon in the 1960s–70s yielded extensive data, primarily in the form of film and television images, that were used to produce a large number of hardcopy maps by conventional techniques. A second era of exploration, beginning in the early 1990s, has produced digital data including global multispectral imagery and altimetry, from which a new generation of di
Authors
Randolph L. Kirk, Brent A. Archinal, Lisa R. Gaddis, Mark R. Rosiek
Ultrahigh resolution topographic mapping of Mars with HiRISE stereo images: Methods and first results
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) arrived at Mars on 10 March 2006 and began its primary science phase in November. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) on MRO is the largest, most complex camera ever flown to another planet. Plans call for this scanner to image roughly 1% of Mars by area at a pixel scale of 0.3 m during the next Mars year. Among the thousands of images w
Authors
Randolph L. Kirk, Elpitha Howington-Kraus, Mark R. Rosiek, Debbie Cook, Jeffery A. Anderson, Kris J. Becker, Brent A. Archinal, Laszlo P. Keszthelyi, R. King, Alfred S. McEwen
Report on the final completion of the Unified Lunar Control Network 2005 and Lunar Topographic Model
In order to highlight this project to the extraterrestrial mapping community, we repeat here our earlier abstract [1], with a corrected Figure 2. A report describing the Unified Lunar Control Network 2005 and the files associated with that network is now available as an on-line USGS Open-File Report [2] at the location http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2006/1367/. A “Readme” file describes the available fil
Authors
Brent A. Archinal, Mark R. Rosiek, Randolph L. Kirk, Trent M. Hare, Bonnie L. Redding
First stereoscopic radar images of Titan
Saturn's giant, cloud-covered satellite Titan, larger than the planet Mercury, is the last major piece of unexplored real estate in the Solar system. The NASA/ESA Cassini spacecraft carries a variety of instruments that are being used to map the surface of Titan, including optical instruments that provide a global synoptic view and spectroscopic information, and microwave imager (Cassini Titan R
Authors
Randolph L. Kirk, Elpitha Howington-Kraus, K. L. Mitchell, S. Hensley, B.W. Stiles
Urgent processing and control of lunar data
There is an urgent, time-critical need to begin tying together (geodetically controlling) all past and current lunar data, and to establish the cartographic foundation needed to make maximum use of future planned lunar data. Proper control of lunar datails required to properly support both lunar science and exploration, and at present we know of no plans within NASA to fund such work adequately. T
Authors
Brent A. Archinal, Lisa R. Gaddis, Randolph L. Kirk, Trent M. Hare, Mark R. Rosiek
Resolution effects in radarclinometry
Data from the Cassini-Huygens mission, in particular images from the Cassini Titan Radar Mapper (RADAR) have revealed Saturn's giant moon, Titan to be a world whose geologic diversity and complexity approach those of the Earth itself. Estimates of topographic relief are, naturally, of enormous interest in the effort to understand the nature of Titan's surface features and quantify the processes by
Authors
Randolph L. Kirk, Jani Radebaugh
The HRSC DTM test
The High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC, [1]) is part of the orbiter payload on the Mars Express (MEX) mission of the European Space Agency (ESA), orbiting the Red Planet in a highly elliptical orbit since January 2004. For the first time in planetary exploration, a camera system has especially been designed to meet the requirements of photogrammetry and cartography for mapping the complete surfac
Authors
Christian Heipke, Jürgen Oberst, Jeorg Albertz, Maria Attwenger, Peter Dorninger, Egon Dorrer, M. Ewe, Stephan Gehrke, Klaus Gwinner, H. Hirschmuller, J.R. Kim, Randolph L. Kirk, H. Mayer, Jan-Peter Muller, Rajagopalan Rengarajan, M. Rentsch, R. Schmidt, Frank Scholten, J. Shan, Michael Spiegel, M. Wahlisch, Gerhard Neukum
Evaluating planetary digital terrain models-The HRSC DTM test
The High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) has been orbiting the planet Mars since January 2004 onboard the European Space Agency (ESA) Mars Express mission and delivers imagery which is being used for topographic mapping of the planet. The HRSC team has conducted a systematic inter-comparison of different alternatives for the production of high resolution digital terrain models (DTMs) from the mult
Authors
C. Heipke, J. Oberst, J. Albertz, M. Attwenger, P. Dorninger, E. Dorrer, M. Ewe, S. Gehrke, K. Gwinner, H. Hirschmuller, J.R. Kim, Randolph L. Kirk, H. Mayer, Jan-Peter Muller, R. Rengarajan, M. Rentsch, R. Schmidt, F. Scholten, J. Shan, M. Spiegel, M. Wahlisch, G. Neukum
Topography and geomorphology of the Huygens landing site on Titan
The Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer (DISR) aboard the Huygens Probe took several hundred visible-light images with its three cameras on approach to the surface of Titan. Several sets of stereo image pairs were collected during the descent. The digital terrain models constructed from those images show rugged topography, in places approaching the angle of repose, adjacent to flatter darker plains
Authors
Laurence A. Soderblom, Martin G. Tomasko, Brent A. Archinal, Tammy L. Becker, Michael W. Bushroe, Debbie Cook, Lyn R. Doose, Donna M. Galuszka, Trent M. Hare, Elpitha Howington-Kraus, Erich Karkoschka, Randolph L. Kirk, Jonathan I. Lunine, Elisabeth A. McFarlane, Bonnie L. Redding, Bashar Rizk, Mark R. Rosiek, Charles See, Peter H. Smith
Titan's surface from Cassini RADAR SAR and high resolution radiometry data of the first five flybys
The first five Titan flybys with Cassini's Synthetic Aperture RADAR (SAR) and radiometer are examined with emphasis on the calibration and interpretation of the high-resolution radiometry data acquired during the SAR mode (SAR-radiometry). Maps of the 2-cm wavelength brightness temperature are obtained coincident with the SAR swath imaging, with spatial resolution approaching 6 km. A preliminary c
Authors
F. Paganelli, Michael A. Janssen, B. Stiles, R. West, Ralf D. Lorenz, Jonathan I. Lunine, Stephen D. Wall, Philip S. Callahan, Rosaly M.C. Lopes, Ellen R. Stofan, Randolph L. Kirk, W.T.K. Johnson, L. Roth, Charles Elachi
The lakes and seas of Titan
No abstract available.
Authors
Rosaly M.C. Lopes, Karl L. Mitchell, Stephen D. Wall, Giuseppe Mitri, Michael Janssen, Steven J. Ostro, Randolph L. Kirk, Alexander G. Hayes, Ellen R. Stofan, Jonathan I. Lunine, Ralph D. Lorenz, Charles Wood, Jani Radebaugh, Philipe Paillou, H. Zebker, Flora Paganelli