3D SHARAD Radargrams

In its orbital configuration, MRO SHARAD is able to observe the polar regions of Mars on an orbit-to-orbit basis, building up dense coverage of both polar caps in a few years. Recognizing the coverage density and building on their experience from the terrestrial oil and gas industry, Nathaniel Putzig and Frederick Foss of Freestyle Analytics and Quantitative Services adapted three-dimensional imaging techniques originally developed for seismic data to work with the MRO SHARAD data providing the scientific community with novel 3D radargrams.

A 3D perspective image extracted from the 2016 Planum Boreum 3D SHARAD radargram.
Click on the figure to view a movie of the volume!
A 3D perspective image extracted from the 2016 Planum Australe 3D SHARAD radargram.
Click on the figure to view a movie of the volume!

Using 3D SHARAD Radargrams

The 3D SHARAD radargrams are provided through this website as a service to the greater scientific community. Official products are now available through NASA's Planetary Data System (PDS) Geoscience Nodes. Similarly, tools have be developed in IDL and Python that produce 2D slices (in image format) from the 3D radargram PDS binary files.

The data accessible through this site are provided in standard SEG-Y Revision-1 format and may be read into commercially available software such as Geophysics by SeisWare, SeisVision, Kingdom, and others. An accompanying informational keyword file describes the header format, but cannot be used to load the SEG-Y files into Geophysics by SeisWare. A separate data-loading keyword file is provided for that purpose.

Current 3D Radargrams

Click rows for additional information and download links
Region Year Finalized
Planum Boreum 2021

Details

This volume, using 3399 orbit passes, is the newest 3D radargram available for Planum Boreum. Using advanced techniques built upon the work of Foss et al., (2017) (PDF), Putzig et al. (2022) resolved many of the short comings noticeable in the 2016 Planum Boreum volume (available below). Through co-registering the surface reflections with those estimated using the University of Arizona off-nadir ("clutter") simulator and advantages developed in the algorithm used in correcting for ionospheric distortion, the resolution available in the 2D radargrams was almost nearly recovered. This work was funded by NASA's Mars Data Analysis Program (MDAP).

There are three volumes available for download. The first is the full time-domain 3D radargram at the processing datum. This volume extends out from the pole to about 75° North. The other two volumes are constrained to the extent of the north polar layered deposits, have been redatumed to be consistent with the US RDR PDS products, and there are time and depth volumes available for this region.

Release Date: September 2021
Citation: Putzig et al. (2022)
Radargram Orbit Range: 1691 - 61697
Data Type: SEG-Y Rev. 1
Deuteronilus Mensae (Pilot Study) 2021

Details

Repurposing travel unused due to the COVID-19 pandemic, MRO funded the development of a 3D radargram in a 10°-by-10° region of Deuteronilus Mensae in order to determine the viability of the 3D imaging techniques developed by Putzig et al. (2022) in less densely covered mid-latitude targets of interest. The extents of this volume are from 37°N to 47°N and 25°W to 35°

There are two volumes available for download. The two volumes have been redatumed to be consistent with the US RDR PDS data products, and there are time and depth volumes available.

Release Date: September 2021
Citation: Perry et al. (2023)
Radargram Orbit Range: 3081 - 64595
Data Type: SEG-Y Rev. 1
Project Report: DM3D Project Report (PDF)
Planum Australe 2016

Details

This volume using 2093 orbit passes and was first presented by Nathaniel Putzig at the Fall AGU Meeting in 2016, with results reported by Putzig et al. (2018; accepted manuscript). The SEG-Y formatted volumes may be read into commercially available software such as SeisWare, SeisVision, Kingdom, and others. An accompanying informational keyword file describes the header format but cannot be used to load the SEG-Y files into SeisWare. A separate data-loading keyword file is provided for that purpose.

There are two volumes available for download. The two volumes are the full time- and depth-domain 3D radargram at the processing datum which extends out from the pole to about 75° South.

Release Date: 2016
Citation: Putzig et al. (2018)
Radargram Orbit Range: 1690 - 42763
Data Type: SEG-Y Rev. 1

Previous 3D Radargrams

Click rows for additional information and download links
Region Year Finalized
Planum Boreum 2016

Details

This volume using 2311 orbit passes was first presented by Nathaniel Putzig at the 22nd Annual 3D Seismic Symposium on March 3, 2016 and is featured in the January 2017 volume of SEG's The Leading Edge (Foss et al., 2017; PDF available here), with a follow-up article in Icarus by Putzig et al. (2018; accepted manuscript) describing first results. Foss and Putzig were interviewed by SEG in conjunction with the TLE publication (listen to the podcast here).

The SEG-Y formatted volumes may be read into commercially available software such as SeisWare, SeisVision, Kingdom, and others. An accompanying informational keyword file describes the header format but cannot be used to load the SEG-Y files into SeisWare. A separate data-loading keyword file is provided for that purpose.

There are three volumes available for download. The first is the full time-domain 3D radargram at the processing datum which extends out from the pole to about 75° North. The other two volumes are constrained to the extent of the north polar layered deposits, have been redatumed to be consistent with the US RDR PDS products, and there are time and depth volumes available for this region.

Release Date: 2016
Citation: Foss et al. (2017)
Radargram Orbit Range: 1727 - 36398
Data Type: SEG-Y Rev. 1

Publications Featuring SHARAD 3D Radargrams

TitleAuthorsJournalDate
Producing 3D radargrams from orbital radar sounding data at Mars: History, results, methods, lessons and plansFoss, Frederick J., et al.Icarus
2023-09-01
Three-dimensional imaging of martian glaciated terrain using Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Shallow Radar (SHARAD) observationsPerry, Matthew R., et al.Icarus
2023-07-01
Science results from sixteen years of MRO SHARAD operationsPutzig, Nathaniel E., et al.Icarus
2023-07-01
New Views of the Internal Structure of Planum Boreum from Enhanced 3D Imaging of Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Shallow Radar DataPutzig, Nathaniel E., et al.The Planetary Science Journal
2022-11-28
Stratigraphy and Volumes of the Units Within the Massive Carbon Dioxide Ice Deposits of MarsAlwarda and SmithJournal of Geophysical Research: Planets
2021-05-11
Three-dimensional radar imaging of structures and craters in the Martian polar capsPutzig, Nathaniel E., et al.Icarus
2018-07-01
3D imaging of Mars' polar ice caps using orbital radar dataFoss, Frederick J., et al.The Leading Edge
2017-01-01