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Showing albedo features of the surface

ia
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· ys
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La
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· Ag · Schm
Liai R ius Sc. ·
Fri
g P ro m e t h ei R u p · Published by Eötvös Loránd University

M.
s· ei ot · ore
assiz idt An sC es
th

Hype rn

Par va Planum
me

av i
Promethei P niac Cosmic Materials Space Research Group,
· Vish
gu s · McMurd
Pro

Planum Australe ti C a
vi o l.
Australe Ch
a
Budapest, Hungary
sma
80° 80° 80° 80°
S S
http://planetologia.elte.hu
EÖTVÖS L. UNIVERSITY Source: Viking Orbiter
COSMIC MATERIALS
SPACE RESEARCH GROUP Map © Henrik Hargitai 2008
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY ISBN HU 978-963-463-969-5

North North

MARS FACTS CLIMATE METEO DATA VIEW OF CHRYSE PLANITIA (Viking–1) VIEW OF UTOPIA PLANITIA (Viking–2)
Lowest nighttime temperature [K] Highest daytime temperatures during one Mars year [K] Legend Change of seasons on Mars is expressed as Ls
Solar Distance: 206–249 million km Sol 1 61 126 193 257 317 371 421 468 514 562 612 668 φ 1 61 126 193 257 317 371 421 468 514 562 612 668 φ °C K degrees (Solar Longitude: distance of the Sun from the
PRESSURE [mbar] Viking–2, 47°N
first point of Aries).
Line refers to the max. extent of frost cover

80 303
During one Martian year measured at 0° longitude, various
latituted. Source: MGS TES Jun 2000. - Apr. 2002.

Earth Distance: 54–401 million km 80 30

70 Seasonal changes are caused not only by the tilt of axis, 10 mb
70 20 293
Equatorial Radius: 3396.2 km 60 60 10 283 but also by the Solar distance, which is a major factor Southern CO2-frost Southern CO2 frost
sublimated
because of the highly elliptical orbit of Mars. This plays precipitated 0 mb
Obliquity to orbit: 25°19’ (±10°) 50 50 0 273
40 40 -10 263 a major role on the actual extent of the polar (frost) 0° 90° 180° 270° Ls 0°
Orbital Period: 668.59 Mars Day 30 30 -15 258 caps. Southern seasons are extreme: Summer is while
(668.59 Sol) (=687 Earth Day) 20 20 -20 253 Mars is close to to Sun (perihelion), Winter is while far WIND SPEED [m/s] Viking–2, 47°N
10 10 -30 243 from the Sun (aphelion). Northern seasons are less 20
Rotational Period (1 sol): 24h:37m 0 0 -60 213 different: Winter is in perihelion. The basis (x axis) of
Gravity: 0.38 g 10 10 -70 203 the diagrams shown here is not Ls, but a 56-sol month. dust storm season
0
Length of Equator: 21 300 km 20 20 -90 183 The southern Summer is the season for global dust 0° 90° 180° 270° Ls 0°
30 30 -100 173 storms. The almost always cloudless sky of Mars is pale
Surface Area: 144.2 million km2 40 40 -110 163 pink in colour because of the dust. During the winter,
TEMPERATURE [C°] Viking–2, 47°N
Atmosphere: 95% CO2; 2,6% N2 50 50 -120 153 daily max -20
CO2 is precipitated as frost, even at 50° lat. By summer, .
60 60 -125 148 -40
Pressure: 6 mbar [min: 0,7–Olympus, 70 70 -130 143 this sublimates, adding to global atmospheric pressure
and making strong winds. -60
max: 12–Hellas) 80 80 dail y min
. -80
Ls 0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 350 Ls 0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 350 DAILY SOLAR ENERGY
0. Longitude: Airy-0 crater AT VARIOUS LATITUDES [Wh/sol·m2] -100
K
Height Datum 3396 km radius 40 40 40 0° 40 30°S da
il t i 40 60°S 313 1400
-120
da

20 60°N dailtime max. 20 30°N dailtime max. me 293 0° 90° 180° 270° Ls 0°
Temperature

20 20 20
ilt

Distance from Earth at Light 0 0 ma 270 0°

0 0 0 SPRING SUMMER AUTUMN WINTER
im

-20 -20 -20 -20 x . -20 253 1000

em

speed : 03:02–22:19 min. -40 -40 -40 -40 Duststorm→ -40Duststorm→ 233 -85° SOLAR DISTANCE (million km)
a

-60 -60 Duststorm→ Duststorm→ 213 85° 600

-60 -60 -60
x.

Solar Distance: 589.2 W/m2 -80 -80 193 2

-80 -80 -80
-100 -100 nighttime min. -100 nighttime min. -100 nighttime min. -100 173 -45° 45° 200
Satellites: Phobos, Deimos -120 nighttime min.
-120 -120 -120 -120 nighttime min. 153 2,5
-140 -140 -140 -140 -140 133 0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112 7 8 9 101112 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112 1 2 3 4 5 6 0° 90° 180° 270° Ls 0° 0° 90° 180° 270° Ls 0°
56-sol months (1=Ls 270) 56-sol months (1=Ls 270) 56-sol months (1=Ls 270) 56-sol months (1=Ls 270) 56-sol months (1=Ls 270)
 European Mars Science and Exploration Conference: Mars Express & ExoMars
ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands, 12 - 16 November, 2007

MICROWAVE TOMOGRAPHY APPROACH FOR UPPER LAYERS

SUBSURFACE EXPLORATION VIA GPR
Francesco Soldovieri, Giancarlo Prisco
Istituto per il Rilevamento Elettromagnetico dell’Ambiente, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche
Via Diocleziano 328, 80124 Napoli, ph: +39 081 5704945, soldovieri.f@irea.cnr.it

S.E. Hamran
Forsvarets ForskningsInstitutt-FFI, P.O. Boax 2027 Kieller, Norway.

Introduction
The possibility to exploit Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) in space exploration is well recognized as it can be inferred by the research activity in Marsis subsurface explorations with sensors on
satellite platforms and the development of GPR systems for in-situ exploration [1]. In particular, attention is focused towards lander and rover platforms for in situ diagnostics of the first layers
of the subsurface where Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is one of the instrumentations of the package. GPR is usually exploited in a configuration, where the receiving and transmitting
antennas are separated by a small fixed offset and are moved very close to or in contact with the ground-interface. A time domain trace is collected and for each antenna’s position, then the
traces are joined and processed in order to visualize the radargram. The interpretation of the radargram in order to achieve information about the scene is usually exploited on the basis of the
operator’s expertise and on the a priori information. In the last years, microwave-tomography based techniques have become an increasing popular interpretational tool over for ground-
penetrating radar applications. By recasting data processing as an inverse scattering problem [2-4] the interpretation of the ‘image’ can be improved and, in addition because the microwave-
tomography technique exploits a more refined model of the electromagnetic scattering phenomenon, this can help in the understanding of crucial aspects of a specific problem at a much deeper
interpretational level.[4, 5].
Microwave tomography
A microwave tomographic algorithm based on the Born Approximation (BA) [4, 6, 7] is here described. The adoption of the BA allows us to recast the problem as the inversion of a linear,
integral relationship connecting the measured scattered field with an unknown contrast function. The geometry of the problem is presented in figure 1 and is concerned with a half-space scenario
and two-dimensional case. The adopted measurement configuration is multi-bistatic/multi-frequency. The scattered field is given as the ‘difference’ between the total field and the unperturbed
field Einc. The total field is the field reflected by the soil when buried objects are present, whereas the unperturbed field is the field reflected by the soil when the objects are absent and, therefore,
it accounts for reflection/transmission at the air/soil interface and other reflections due to buried layers when these are accounted for in the reference scenario assumed for the model.
The targets are invariant along the y-axis and their cross-section is assumed to be included in a rectangular investigation domain. The
unknowns of the problem are the relative dielectric permittivity profile and the conductivity profile inside D. Under BA, the relationship
between the unknown contrast function and the scattered field data is provided by the integral equation [4, 6, 7]:
r r r r ε object r ' ( )
Es ( xs , ω ) = k s ∫ Ge ( xs , ω , r ')Einc ( xs , ω , r ′)χ (r ′)dr ′
contrast function
χ (r ') =
2
−1
D
εb
The ‘unknown’ in the inversion problem is the contrast function, which accounts for the difference between the dielectric
permittivity/conductivity of the objects and the soil. Thus, the result of the reconstruction is a spatial map of the modulus of the contrast
Geometry of the problem function within the region under investigation. Ge(·) is Green’s function, Einc is the incident field and ks is the wave-number in the in the soil.
The linear model allows us to analyse the reconstruction capabilities of the solution algorithm in terms of the spatial variations of the retrieved ‘unknown’ target object and, ultimately, the
achievable resolution limits as well as the spatial and frequency sampling that has to be adopted in the survey criteria [6, 7]. The linear integral relation is inverted thanks to the Singular Value
Decomposition (SVD) tool that allows to achieve the stability of the solution. The datum of the inversion algorithm is the field scattered by the buried object in the frequency domain while the
raw-data are collected in time-domain and accounts for the total field; thus a pre-processing of the measurement is necessary. The first step is to “gate” the first part of all the time domain traces,
which corresponds to erase the direct and surface wave contributions; this step roughly provides an estimation of the scattered field. After the choice of the time-zero, the data are Fourier
transformed in frequency domain and finally they are processed by the inversion algorithm.
Inversion scheme r
Es χ (r ′)
Measured Pre-processing of the data Scattered field data Inversion of the linear integral equation
Retrieved contrast function
data collected in time domain in frequency domain TSVD scheme

Numerical and experimental imaging results

We present a numerical example and the result of the processing of experimental data. In all the cases below, it is adopted the multi-monostatic measurement configuration with the
measurements collected along at the air/soil interface. In the model, the incident field source is assumed as a time-harmonic filamentary y-directed electric current radiating in a frequency band.
Normalized modulus of χ
Geometry Radargram
Parameter Value
Relative dielectric permittivity of the soil 4
Relative dielectric permittivity of the water 80
Conductivity of the soil 0.005 S/m
Conductivity of the water 0.5 S/m
Spatial step of the measurements 0.05m
Measurement domain 2 m (41 points spaced by 0.05 m)
Frequency band 100-1000 MHz
Frequency step 20 MHz (46 freq. exploited in the inversion)
Investigation domain 2 m (horizontal)x(1-3m) depth

The measurements presented in this poster was collected in front of two glaciers located at Svalbard at 78.55 degrees north. The annual mean temperature in the area is -6.3 degrees centigrade
and the permafrost depth is estimated to be 100 meter. The measurements were done in April before melting had begun. GPR measurements were done with a Mala impulse radar system using
500 and 800 MHz with shielded antennas, see figure. The GPR data displayed to the left below were processed by first moving start time, DC-removal (de-wow) and applying gain as a function
of depth.
-8
x 10
1
1800
2
1600
2
z [m]

3
1400
4
1200
4
5
1000 6
155 160 165 170 175 180 185 190 195 200 205
t [s]

6 800

7 600 x [m]
8 400

200
9
0
2 meter thick 10
150 160 170 180 190 200 210
sediment layer
x 10
-8
Radargram
x [m] 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9
2 Normalized modulus of χ
3

2
z [m]

5 4
6
t [s]

7 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55
8 x [m]
20 meter thick ice Layering inside the ice 9

10
0 10 20 30 40 50
x [m]

References 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9

Parameter Value
[1] Hamran S.E. , Berger T., Hanssen L., Øyan M.J., Ciarletti V., Corbel C. , Plettemeier D., “A prototype for the WISDOM GPR on the ExoMars mission “, Proc. of IWAGPR2007, Napoli, June , (2007). Relative dielectric permittivity of the soil 5.76
[2] A. Brancaccio, G. Leone, F. Soldovieri, R. Pierri, “Localization of interfaces embedded in a half-space by a linear inverse scattering algorithm”, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote
Sensing, Oct. 2007. Conductivity of the soil 0.005 S/m
[3] A. Brancaccio, G. Leone, F. Soldovieri, R. Pierri , “Subsurface localization of interfaces”, Proc. of IWAGPR2007, Napoli, Italy, June 2007. Spatial step of the measurements 0.1m
[4] G. Leone, G., F. Soldovieri., Analysis of the distorted Born approximation for subsurface reconstruction: truncation and uncertainties effect, IEEE Trans. Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 41,
66-74, (2003). Measurement domain 5 m (51 points spaced by 0.1 m)
[5] Pierri R., Liseno A., Solimene R., Soldovieri F., Beyond physical optics SVD shape reconstruction of metallic cylinders, IEEE Trans. Antennas and Propagation, vol. 54, 655-665, (2006). Frequency band 100-700 MHz
[6] Soldovieri F., Persico R., Leone G., Frequency diversity in a linear inversion algorithm for GPR prospecting , Subsurface Sensing Technologies and Applications Journal, Special Issue GPR2004,
vol.6, 25-42, (2005). Frequency step 10 MHz (61 freq. exploited in the inversion)
[7] Persico R., Soldovieri F., Reconstruction of a slab embedded in a three layered medium from multifrequency data under Born approximation, Journal of the Optical Society of America, Pt. A, vol Investigation domain 5 m (horizontal)x(0.1-6.1m) depth
21, 35-45, (2004).
 THE NEW MARS CLIMATE DATABASE (version 4.2)
E. Millour, F. Forget, F. González-Galindo, A. Spiga, S. Lebonnois, K. Dassas, Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique du CNRS, IPSL, France,
S.R. Lewis, L. Montabone, Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Open University, UK, P.L. Read, Atmospheric, Oceanic & Planetary Physics,
University of Oxford, UK, F. Lefèvre, F. Montmessin, Service d’Aéronomie, IPSL, France, M.A. López-Valverde, G. Gilli, Instituto de Astrofísica de
Andalucía, Spain, F. Montmessin, F. Lefèvre, Service d’Aéronomie, CNRS, France, M.-C. Desjean, CNES, France, J.-P. Huot, European Space Research
and Technology Centre, European Space Agency, Netherlands

What is the Mars Climate Database?
• The Mars Climate Database (MCD) is a combination of datafiles and software containing many statistics
and predictions of Martian environment. The database has been built from outputs of numerical simulations
of Mars’ climate and atmospheric circulation using a General Circulation Model (GCM) developed at the
Laboratoire de Métérologie Dynamique du CNRS (France) in collaboration with the Open University (UK),
the Oxford University (UK) and the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia (Spain) with support from the
European Space Agency (ESA) and the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES, France).
• The database was originally developed for mission design (re-entry studies) but it is also a convenient tool
for many other scientific studies such as modeling, data processing and interpretation, ...
New features in version 4.2 of the MCD
• Improved access software. The main Fortran program to use to retrieve and process database files is now
“call_mcd”; it includes all the features of its predecessor (seasonal interpolation, choice of multiple vertical
coordinates, the possibility to specify input dates as Earth or Mars dates, etc…) and more:
• RMS day to day standard deviations are now given pressure-wise (as in previous versions of the MCD) and
altitude-wise.
• A new “high resolution mode” has been implemented, which generalizes and extends the extraction of
accurate surface pressure at a resolution of 1/32 of a degree.

The high resolution mode

Why a model-based climate database?
• The Martian environment is highly variable. In spite of the new observations available from Mars
Global Surveyor, Mars Express and now, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, it remains difficult to predict the
climatic conditions on Mars at any time and any locations from available observational data. This is
especially true for climate variables which are not directly observed (e.g.: winds).
• Martian GCMs have been extensively validated using available observational data and we believe that
they represent the current best knowledge of the state of the Martian atmosphere given the observations
and the physical laws which govern the atmospheric environment and surface conditions on the planet.
B Models can be used to extrapolate observations
• The GCM horizontal longitude×latitude computational grid is 5.675°×3.75°.
• By combining high resolution (32 pixels/degree) MOLA topography and Viking Lander 1 pressure records (used
as a reference to correct the atmospheric mass) with GCM surface pressure, a corrected high resolution surface
pressure may be derived (as is done in our “pres0” utility).
• The high resolution surface pressure can be used to reconstruct the vertical atmospheric pressure distribution
and, within the restriction of the procedure, yield high resolution values of atmospheric variables.

What are the main features taken into account in this climate database?

• The MCD includes 4 different dust scenarios in order to better represent the range of variability of the
Martian atmosphere due to the amount and distribution of suspended dust.
• The MCD extends into the thermosphere, up to ~350 km (and more), since the GCM it is derived from
includes a thermosphere model above ~100 km. Data corresponding to 3 Extreme Ultra Violet (EUV)
scenarios, which account for various states of the solar cycle (minimum, average and maximum), are thus
supplied.
• Much more than just the main meteorological variables are supplied, as the GCM includes a full water
cycle model as well as a chemistry model.

Illustrative example: MCD data along Opportunity’s entry

Sections of atmospheric temperature above Valles Marineris, in the early afternoon of Northern Hemisphere Spring
MCD v.4.2 scenarios:
Dust storm LEFT: Comparison between Opportunity entry equinox, using MCD low (left) and high (right) resolution modes. Note that there is more than an order of magnitude
Warm (“dusty”) profile, retrieved by Paul Withers and mean MCD between horizontal and vertical scales in these sections; what appear as sharp spikes are in fact much smoother, as
MY24
Cold (“clear”) profiles obtained for various dust scenarios. Note plots using commensurate axes would show.
Opportunity
that Mars Express and MGS measurements show
Entry profile that the atmosphere was then dustier than usual.
Altitude (km)

Accuracy of Mars Climate Database data

(retrieved by
Paul Withers)

LOWER LEFT: Same (MY24) temperature profile

topped with the three Solar EUV inputs.

BELOW: Some MCD (MY24) predictions of species The MCD has been validated using observational data from many available sources: Mars Global Surveyor (TES, Radio
Mixing Ratios along Opportunity’s entry trajectory. Science, accelerometer), Mars Express (SPICAM, PFS, OMEGA, MaRS), Viking Landers, Pathfinder, MER.

Temperature (K) Example n°1: TES atmospheric temperatures

The Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) onboard Mars Global Surveyor has nearly continuously monitored the
Martian Atmosphere for almost 3 Martian years, yielding detailed information on the local and seasonal evolution of
atmospheric conditions on Mars.
Altitude (km)

O3
Dust

Ice Cloud !

H2O Vapor

Atmospheric variations included in the MCD • Left & middle plots: Distributions of binned (using 1K bins) temperature differences (at 106 Pa pressure level)
between MCD MY24 predictions and TES (2pm or 2am) measurements over Mars Years 24 and 25 (up to Ls=180, i.e.
‰ Year to year variability and dust content variations : Simulation of years with three different solar
Extreme UltraViolet (EUV) inputs as well as with different dust content were done, corresponding to: before the global dust storm) and for latitudes ranging from 50°S to 50°N. Displayed MEAN and RMS values are
ƒ A baseline scenario MY24 (Mars Year 24), based on assimilation of TES observations in 1999-2001. computed from the obtained histograms and the curves correspond to normal distributions of same MEAN and RMS.
ƒ Two scenarios which bracket reality: a clear (cold) and a dusty (warm) one. • Right plot: Same distributions evaluated this time between different MCD scenarios (cold, baseline MY24 and warm).
ƒ A global dust storm scenario to represent conditions during such events.
‰ Seasonal cycle : In the MCD are stored 12 “typical” days (average over 30° of Ls) around the year.
Values at a given date are obtained by interpolation.
‰ Diurnal cycle : Environmental data are stored 12 times per day; interpolation is used to evaluate values of Example n°2: Surface pressure at Viking Lander 2 site
variables at a given time of day.
‰ Day to day variability (e.g. representation of transient waves): Within a month, statistics of variations of
meteorological variables are stored in the form of their standard deviations and EOF components.

Data that the v4.2 MCD provides

‰ Mean values of variables: (stored at 12 local times of a typical day for each of 12 months)
• Atmospheric density, pressure, temperature and winds (horizontal and vertical),
• Surface pressure and temperature, CO2 ice cover,
• Atmospheric turbulent kinetic energy,
• Thermal and solar radiative fluxes,
• Dust column opacity and mass mixing ratio,
• [H2O] vapor and [H2O] ice (columns and mixing ratios),
• [CO], [O], [O2], [N2], [CO2], [H2] and [O3] volume mixing ratios,
• Air specific heat capacity, viscosity and molecular gas constant R.

‰ Variability of meteorological variables: Various tools are provided to reconstruct variabilities • Switching from the baseline MY24 scenario to the Dust • Surface pressure cycle over a Martian year, as
Perturbations may be added as: Storm scenario enables to recover the change in predicted by the MCD MY24 scenario at Viking
• Large scale perturbations, using Empirical Orthogonal Functions (EOFs) derived from the GCM runs. behavior recorded by Viking Lander 2 during the 1977 Lander 2 site, with an envelope of twice its standard
• Small scale perturbations, by adding a gravity wave of user-defined wavelength. global dust storm. deviation, compared to the recorded values.
Standard deviations of main meteorological variables are given for:
• Surface temperature, surface pressure, dust opacity.
• Atmospheric density, pressure, temperature and winds. The online Mars Climate Database
These RMS day to day variabilities are given both pressure-wise and altitude-wise.
• For moderate needs: You should use the World Wide
Web site: http://www-mars.lmd.jussieu.fr which gives
Obtaining and using the database access to:
• All scenarios and variables.
• A choice between 3 different vertical coordinates
• For intensive and precise work: You will need the database DVD-ROM, which (pressure levels, altitude above areoid or above
contains the data files (in NetCDF format) and access software (which does all the surface).
post-processing to include and account for sub-grid scales, day-to-day variations of • A wide range of output formats: Images (gif or
the Martian atmosphere, etc…) as well as the lighter standalone high resolution postscript files), NetCDF data files, various formats
surface pressure predictor “pres0”. of plain text files.
The software is written in Fortran 77; works on Unix and Linux and can be ported to • Computations of user defined variables (average,
Windows. IDL, Matlab, Scilab, C and C++ interfaces to the MCD are also provided. min or max values,…).
Contact francois.forget@lmd.jussieu.fr and/or ehouarn.millour@lmd.jussieu.fr for a • An Earth date to Mars date (value of solar
free copy. longitude Ls) converter.
 Planet
Mars

Mars, the red planet, is the most Earth-like of all t he planets; it

too has polar ice caps t hat grow and recede with t he change of
the seasons. It also has markings t hat appear to be similar to
water channels on Eart h.

The Martian soil is composed mostly of clay rich in

iron. T he oxidation of t he Martian soil causes the
reddish coloration of the planet. The process
described above is that of rusting. So Mars is like a
car. When a car has been exposed to t he elements
(rain, air, winter’s salty streets etc.) its body begins to
rust, and that’s what happened to Mars. Imagine a
rusty planet in our solar system!

The temperature on Mars can be very, very cold. On one of

its best summer days, temperatures can reach 20°C in
certain areas; however, colder temperatures are more
common with night -time temperatures of 140°C below
zero.
How heavy would you be on Mars?
If you weigh 34 kg (75 lb) you would weigh 12 kg (28 lb) on
Mars. To calculate your weight, all you have to do is multiply
your weight (kilos or pounds) by 0.38.

How old would you be on Mars?

If you are 10 years old t his year you would be 6 years old on
Mars.
 Quality Assessment of ExoMars PanCam 3D Reconstruction
Gerhard Paar1, David P. Barnes3, Jürgen Oberst2, Andrew Griffiths4, Peter Rueffer7, Andrew J. Coates4, J.-
J.- Peter Muller4, Yang Gao5, Ralf Jaumann2,
Ron Li6
1Institute
of Digital Image Processing, JOANNEUM RESEARCH (JR), Graz, Austria. gerhard.paar@joanneum.at www.joanneum.at/dib
2German Aerospace Center, Institute of Planetary Research,Rutherfordstr. 2, D-12489 Berlin, Germany. juergen.oberst/ralf.jaumann@dlr.de www.dlr.de/berlin
3Department of Computer Science, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, SY23 3DB, UK. dbp@aber.ac.uk www.aber.ac.uk/compsci/Research/robots
4MullardSpace Science Laboratory (MSSL), University College London, Holmbury St. Mary, Dorking, RH5 6 NT, UK. www.mssl.ucl.ac.uk/www_plasma
5SurreySpace Centre, University of Surrey, Guildford, GU2 7XH, UK. Yang.Gao@surrey.ac.uk www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/SSC/
6Mapping and GIS Laboratory, CEEGS, The Ohio State University, 2070 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210-1275. li.282@osu.edu shoreline.ceegs.ohio-state.edu/
7Technical Univ. Braunschweig, Hans-Sommer Str. 66, D-38106 Braunschweig. rueffer@ida.ing.tu-bs.de http://www.ida.ing.tu-bs.de/

The Pasteur payload on the ESA ExoMars Rover 2013 is designed to search
Scope for evidence of extant or extinct life either on or down to ~2 m below the
surface of Mars. It will be equipped with a panoramic imaging system
(PanCam, [1]) for visual characterization of the rover’s surroundings and remote
detection of potential sample sites. PanCam consists of two wide angle
multispectral cameras each with a Wide Angle Camera (WAC), with a field-of-
view (FOV) still under design, separated by 0.5 m stereo base length, and a
mono-scopic camera (High Resolution Camera, HRC) currently designed to
have an 8° FOV, both mounted on a shared pan-tilt unit (Fig. 1).
PanCam is the primary context providing system. The quality of its data
products is crucial for the scientific output of the mission. The current design is Fig. 1:
PanCam
therefore undergone a review on data usability by evaluating the quality of the Layout
main results:
a) 3D reconstruction and its representation means like digital terrain models Fig. 2: Virtual view of 11 MER PanCam stereo reconstruction
(DTM) and virtual views (Fig. 2) fusion with bounding boxes of individual point clouds
b) Panorama Mosaics.

Main influences on 3d reconstruction &

Quality panorama formation quality are:
ExoMars PanCam WAC Reconstruction Accuracy (distance) depending on Stereo Base
Drivers (1) design & Software parameters, such and Distance (Matching accuracy: 0.3 pixel; 0.6 mrad / Pixel)

as stereo base length, Field-of-View, Distance [mm]

number of camera pixels, compression 1000

method & ratio, radiometric resolution, and

Distance Accuracy [mm]

the availability of different wavelengths 100 Stereo Base [mm]:

(2) geometric & radiometric properties of 200

500

the scene: Viewing direction incidence 10

1000

angle, presence of texture, occlusions,

multiple elevations (Fig. 3), dynamic range
1
and albedo variability are such factors. Most 200
2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 10000 20000
7,2208884 16,195327 28,726077 44,79403 64,380215 87,465794 114,03207 177,53254 697,69186
crucial for stereo-based 3D reconstruction is 500 2,9325072 6,5370281 11,577967 18,052221 25,956694 35,2883 46,043963 71,815191 285,08017
1000 1,5350349 3,3397521 5,8650144 9,1100421 13,074056 17,756279 23,155935 36,104442 143,63038
certainly the scene distance, which has
quadratic reciprocal influence on Fig. 4: Expected Stereo reconstruction accuracy dependent on camera base and scene distance
Fig. 3: Multiple Elevations from MER Stereo
reconstruction accuracy (Fig. 4). (exaggerated)

The PanCam Team has access to some experimental sites

Evaluation such as a Planetary Analogue Terrain (PAT) at the University
Procedure of Wales (UWA, Fig. 5)), and a 1:10 scaled mockup at
& Criteria Joanneum Research (JR, Fig. 6), with well-defined
geometrical objects. Using PanCam – analogue optics and
viewing parameters (e.g. consumer cameras and re-sampling
the images to their nominal resolution and FOV) realistic Image patch:
400 * 300 pixels

imaging conditions can be realized in a straightforward

manner. The images are compressed-decompressed (Fig. 7)
and processed using 3d stereo reconstruction software
available within the Team [2]. Evaluation starts with a visual
check of the results, to be categorized as usable - restricted
usability - or unusable by experts. Other criteria are DTM
noise determined on planar objects, edge sharpness on
Fig. 7: Compression effect:
objects with known shape, and stereo matching success Fig. 5: ExoMars Concept-E model rover in PAT Fig. 6: 1:10 terrain mockup and artificial
8*3 bits/pixel (top) vs.
Laboratory at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth objects at Joanneum Research, Graz.
rate (i.e. scene coverage). Camera – scene distance 2m simulated 0.1*3 bits / pixel (bottom)

An example for effects caused by variations of crucial

Preliminary parameters such as viewing distance is displayed on
Results Figure 9. Compression tests showed that a Fig. 8:
processing
3D vision
Draft:
& Outlook compression ratio of below 1/8 is realistic for the On-ground data
standard use of stereo images in operations planning. production chain (top left),
visualization and planning
Midterm tests contain a numeric evaluation of DTM (bottom left), workshare
accuracy, the usage of the UWA PAT as well as within PanCam 3D vision
synthetic imagery (Fig. 10), and panorama mosaic Team (right)

resolution. Further tests will include the impact of toe-

in angle on scene coverage, fusion between HRC and
WAC, and the potential to combine images from
different positions of the rover to one unique 3D
reconstruction. An integrated processing &
evaluation chain is under development by the PanCam
3D vision Team (Fig. 8), making intense use of Beagle 2
vision experience (Fig. 11).

50 cm

Simul. Simul. Simul. Simul.

Dist. Dist. Dist. Dist.
2m 5m 10 m 20 m

Fig. 9: Stereo reconstruction quality depending on distance between camera and scene. Images were taken on 1:10 mockup with simulated Beagle2 WAC optical parameters, stereo base 5 cm and distances 20cm, 50cm, 1m, 2m, respectively.
Top: Stereo pairs. Bottom: Vrml views of reconstructed terrain using a triangle mesh generated directly from disparity images

References
[1] Griffiths, A.D., Coates, A.J., Jaumann, R.,
Michaelis, H., Paar, G., Barnes, D.P., Josset, J.-
L. and the PanCam Team. Context for the ESA
ExoMars rover: the Panoramic Camera
(PanCam) instrument. International Journal of
http://www.aiaa.org/spaceops2004archive/downloads/papers/SPACE2004sp-template00389F.pdf
Astrobiology, doi:10.1017/S1473550406003387.
[2] Paar, G., Griffiths, A.D., Barnes, D.P.,
Coates, A.J., and Bauer, A (2005). The Beagle 2
Camera Heritage for Pasteur. Geophysical
Research Abstracts, Vol. 7, 06815.
http://www.cosis.net/
abstracts/EGU05/06815/EGU05-J-06815.pdf

Fig. 11: l: Operations planning using DTM embedded in robot arm CAD mode. r: Verification of operations plan
Fig. 10: PANGU Mars landscape Simulation on mockup (From Beagle2 Development)
Unraveling For as long as humans have
looked up into the night
sky, the planet Mars has
the sparked imaginations.
For thousands of years,
Mysteries it was merely a blood-
red star wandering
of across the heavens. In
early cultures, it conjured
up images of war and
Mars bloodshed. Egyptians named it
Har décher, “the Red One.” The
Babylonians called it Nergal, “the Star
of Death.” The Greeks considered it Ares,
By Dr. Steven Lee “the Fiery One,” and to Romans it was
the god of war, called Mars.
In 1610, Galileo Galilei turned his newly
invented telescope on Mars, seeing only a
tiny reddish disk. Christiaan Huygens
sketched the first crude maps of the planet
in 1659 (Figure 1), noting that the visible
dark and bright markings drifted across the
disk in about 24 hours, indicating the length of
Figure 1 the Martian day was similar to Earth’s. By the 18th
century, astronomers were routinely mapping
clouds, polar caps, and surface markings that
seemed to change with the seasons. Dark markings
were assumed to be oceans and seas; similar
assumptions were applied to features on the Moon.
In 1877, Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli
drew maps showing a global network of
interconnected dark lines (Figure 2). His term
canali—Italian for channels—was mistranslated into
English as “canals,” leading to a “life on Mars”
hypothesis that held sway for many decades. An
annual “wave of darkening,” in which the dark
surface features became larger, darker, and better
defined in the spring and summer seasons, was
assumed to result from the springtime growth of
vegetation nourished by water collected from the
retreating polar ice caps. The supposed canals were
taken as evidence of an advanced Martian
civilization’s global-scale engineering project,
Figure 2
designed to carry the springtime melt from the polar
caps to irrigate forests and fields in the temperate
regions.
Since the mid-1960s, observations by spacecraft
have allowed Earthbound scientists to begin
unraveling the mysteries of the Red Planet and to
finally put many old myths to rest. In 1965, the
Mariner 4 spacecraft zipped within 6,200 miles
Figure 3
THE RED ARROW IN THE MARINER 4
IMAGE (ABOVE) POINTS TO THE
LOCATION OF THE MARS GLOBAL
SURVEYOR IMAGE (RIGHT). THE 1999
IMAGE SHOWS FEATURES ONLY 10 FEET
(3 METERS) ACROSS—AN IMPROVEMENT
IN RESOLUTION OF ABOUT 400 TIMES.
(10,000 km) of Mars and radioed back a scant 22
images collected over half an hour. This small
sampling revealed a lunarlike surface scarred with
impact craters (Figure 3) and sheathed in a thin
carbon dioxide atmosphere. Scientific interest in the
geological and possible biological history of Mars
waned—it was assumed Mars was as “dead” as the
Moon. The planned missions to Mars continued,
however, and in 1971 Mariner 9 became the first
spacecraft to orbit another planet. Over the next year,
7,329 images allowed the entire surface to be map-
ped. To the delight of scientists, a host of fantastic
landscapes was revealed. Mars became known as a
world of great extremes. Its features include the
largest known volcano in the solar system at about
360 miles across (600 km) and 15 miles high (25
km)—nearly three times taller than Mount Everest; a
canyon system 2,500 miles long (4,000 km), hundreds
of miles across, and up to 4 miles deep (7 km)—on
Earth, it would span North America; and surfaces
that range from those being slowly covered by dust
to those whipped by intense dust storms (Figure 4,
before and during a dust storm).
Figure 4
In 1976, the Viking missions (two orbiters as well
as landers in two locations) yielded several years of
both surface and global observations. The Viking
landers carried out the first “biology experiments”
on the surface. Although the somewhat ambiguous
results are still debated, the scientific consensus is
that the tests revealed exotic chemical processes
rather than biological activity. Recent years have seen devils sweep dust from the surface to high in the Dr. Steven Lee is
ongoing exploration of Mars. In 1997, the Pathfinder atmosphere. Most intriguing is the evidence for DMNS curator of
planetary science. He
mission delivered the first roving vehicle to the recent gullies, perhaps carved by running water; to a
also serves as a
Martian surface, while the Mars Global Surveyor geologist, “recent” could be 10,000 years ago or coinvestigator on the
(arriving 1997) and Mars Odyssey (arriving 2001) yesterday. Several hundred examples of these gullies Mars Color Imager, a
missions are continuing the orbital reconnaissance have been discovered (Figure 6), supporting the idea camera system slated
with unprecedented spy-cameralike images of the that subsurface aquifers containing liquid water or to be launched on the
Mars Reconnaissance
surface (Figure 3). brines may exist in many areas. The life-on-Mars
Orbiter in 2005.
From the accumulated spacecraft observations, it pendulum is swinging into
has become obvious that Mars is a very dynamic the maybe camp once again.
world but one very different than previously Many of the missions
imagined. At 4,222 miles (6,794 km) Mars is about planned for the coming
half the diameter of Earth, and the surface gravity is decade will attempt to
38 percent of Earth’s. The Martian day lasts 24 hours “follow the water” in search
and 37 minutes (Huygens was close in his of environments that may
estimation!), but the year is 687 days long. The have once supported—or
rotation axis is tilted 25.1 degrees (similar to Earth’s may still support—microbial
23.5 degrees), but each Martian season is about twice life. In early 2004, two Mars
as long as the terrestrial counterpart. The atmosphere Exploration Rovers will act
is very different—composed of 95 percent carbon as robotic field geologists,
dioxide and with a surface pressure less than one roaming for several months
percent that found at sea level on Earth (equivalent to and examining two separate
flying in an aircraft at an altitude of about 80,000 landing sites. Arriving in
feet). On the surface, the daytime high temperatures 2006, the Mars Reconnais-
rarely climb above the freezing point of water but sance Orbiter will expand on
plunge to at least -220 degrees F (-140 degrees C) the legacy of orbital
every night. In the winter, the polar regions become exploration. Later in the
cold enough to freeze carbon dioxide out of the decade, a “smart lander”
atmosphere causing dry ice “snow” to fall! Under may place one or more
current conditions, liquid water cannot exist for long rovers within driving
on the surface and will either freeze or quickly distance of a fresh gully,
evaporate. Only about a hair’s thickness of water perhaps determining if near-surface deposits of water Figure 6
vapor exists in the Martian atmosphere, but Hubble are present. There are plans for a mission—perhaps
Space Telescope observations have revealed that is as early as 2013—that will return a few hundred
enough to form widespread bands of water-ice grams of Martian soil and rock samples for detailed
clouds at some times of the year (Figure 5). analyses in laboratories on Earth. At that point, the
The Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Golden Age of Mars exploration will be
Odyssey missions are busy revising nearly complete and serious plans
many of the “common wisdom” can begin for human missions.
aspects of Mars that were Stay tuned because the
largely based on the Red Planet is slowly but
Mariner and Viking surely revealing its
results. Near-surface secrets, and many
winds seem to be fantastic new
more effective than discoveries are
once thought, sure to come in
forming the months and
enormous sand years ahead.
dunes in many
regions. Huge
tornadolike dust

Figure 5