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Published March 13, 1998 | public
Journal Article Metadata-only

Topography of the Northern Hemisphere of Mars from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter

Smith, D. E.
Zuber, M. T. ORCID icon
Frey, H. V.
Garvin, J. B.
Head, J. W. ORCID icon
Muhleman, D. O.
Pettengill, G. H.
Phillips, R. J.
Solomon, S. C. ORCID icon
Zwally, H. J.
Banerdt, W. B.
Duxbury, T. C.

Abstract

The first 18 tracks of laser altimeter data across the northern hemisphere of Mars from the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft show that the planet at latitudes north of 50° is exceptionally flat; slopes and surface roughness increase toward the equator. The polar layered terrain appears to be a thick ice-rich formation with a non-equilibrium planform indicative of ablation near the periphery. Slope relations suggest that the northern Tharsis province was uplifted in the past. A profile across Ares Vallis channel suggests that the discharge through the channel was much greater than previously estimated. The martian atmosphere shows significant 1-micrometer atmospheric opacities, particularly in low-lying areas such as Valles Marineris.

Additional Information

© 1998 American Association for the Advancement of Science. Received 15 January 1998; accepted 19 February 1998. We thank MOLA Instrument Manager R. Follas and the rest of the instrument team, and G. Cunningham, B. McAnally, and the MGS spacecraft and operation teams. We also acknowledge helpful reviews from M. Carr and an anonymous reviewer, and contributions from J. Abshire and J. Smith in instrument calibration and performance assessment, G. Neumann, G. Elman, P. Jester, and J. Schott in altimetry processing, F. Lemoine, D. Rowlands, and S. Fricke in orbit determination, and O. Aharonson, D. Brown, J. Frawley, P. Haggerty, S. Hauk, A. Ivanov, P. McGovern, C. Johnson, S. Pratt, and N. Siebert in analysis. The MOLA investigation is supported by the NASA Mars Global Surveyor Project.

Errata

In the report "Topography of the northern hemisphere of Mars from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimiter" by D. E. Smith et al. (13 Mar., p. 1686), line 18 of the second column of page 1686 should have read, in part, "topography varies by 3 km." Also, the caption for figure 7 on page 1690 should have read, "Derived atmospheric opacity (A) and topography (B) over the lus Chasm of Valles Marineris."

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August 19, 2023
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