3D radargrams from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) Shallow Radar (SHARAD) data
SHARAD 3D movie of Planum Boreum, the north polar cap of Mars
Description of 3D radargrams
The links above show movies of SHARAD 3D radargrams created in 2016. These fully imaged data volumes show radar-detected features of the interiors of Planum Boreum and Planum Australe. The were produced from SHARAD observations taken on 2311 MRO orbital passes in the north and 2093 passes in the south. The volumes reveal the interior stratigraphy and structure of the polar layered deposits and underlying materials (see Putzig et al., 2018). Depth-converted volumes assume water-ice dielectric of 3.15 in the subsurface.We began with the volume in the north, where we carried out several iterations that successively incorporated more data and improved processing methods. Using what we learned in that first effort, we were able to produce a complete volume for the south much more quickly. Archival of these volumes in NASA's Planetary Data System is expected to be finalized in September of 2021.
Below, we provide links to binary versions of the volumes in SEG-Y format, the movies, and a few snapshot views. We include full-extent SEG-Y delay-time volumes for both polar regions and the south polar depth volume. In addition, we provide smaller SEG-Y versions of the north polar delay-time and depth volumes that are trimmed to encompass only the polar layered deposits in a slightly smaller window of time. The latter will allow a more manageable data volume for most users.
2016 Planum Boreum 3D radargram
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 (added 2017 Sep 25) 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.
2016 Planum Boreum 3D delay-time binary (152GB SEG-Y)
2016 Planum Boreum 3D limited delay-time binary (33GB SEG-Y)
2016 Planum Boreum 3D limited depth binary (27GB SEG-Y)
2016 Planum Boreum 3D depth movie -- perspective view (223MB MPEG-4) (same as link at top) 2016 Planum Boreum 3D depth movie -- depth slices (104MB MPEG-4) 2016 Planum Boreum 3D depth movie -- inline slices (80MB MPEG-4) 2016 Planum Boreum 3D depth movie -- crossline slices (97MB MPEG-4) 2016 Planum Boreum 3D depth chaircut view toward 150 deg E longitudeIn any use of the 2016 Planum Boreum depth views, please cite Foss et al. (2017).
2016 Planum Australe 3D radargram
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). The SEG-Y formatted volumes (added 2017 Sep 26) 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.
2016 Planum Australe 3D delay-time binary (156GB SEG-Y)
2016 Planum Australe 3D depth binary (126GB SEG-Y)
2016 Planum Australe 3D depth movie -- perspective view (204MB MPEG-4) (same as link at top) 2016 Planum Australe 3D depth chaircut view toward 315 deg E longitudeIn any use of the 2016 Planum Australe depth views, please cite Putzig et al. (2018).
2015 Planum Boreum 3D depth radargram
This volume using 1579 orbit passes was first presented by Nathaniel Putzig the Fall AGU Meeting in December 2015.
2015 Planum Boreum 3D depth movie -- perspective view (173MB MPEG-4) 2015 Planum Boreum 3D depth chaircut view from 45 deg E longitudeIn any use of the 2015 Planum Boreum depth views, please cite Putzig et al. (2015).
2014 Planum Boreum 3D delay-time radargram
This delay-time version of the volume using 1579 orbit passes was first presented by Nathaniel Putzig at the 8th International Conference on Mars on July 16, 2014.
2014 Planum Boreum 3D delay-time movie -- perspective view (134MB MPEG-4) 2014 Planum Boreum 3D delay-time chaircut view from 330 deg E longitude 2014 Planum Boreum 3D delay-time chaircut view from 240 deg E longitude 2014 Planum Boreum 3D delay-time transect map (yellow line) along the Gemina Lingula ridge 2014 Planum Boreum 3D delay-tme transect view along the Gemina Lingula ridgeIn any use of the 2014 Planum Boreum delay-time views, please cite Putzig et al. (2014).
Acknowledgements
A big thanks goes to SeisWare for their support of our work. All views shown here were created using their software, including the movies made with their 3D visualization tool. The production of SHARAD 3D radargrams of the Martian polar terrains is funded by NASA's Mars Data Analysis Program. SHARAD was provided to MRO by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and is operated under contract to SHARAD Team Leader Roberto Seu at the Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Elettronica e Telecomunicazioni (DIET), Sapienza Università di Roma. PSI contributes to operations through the coordination of instrument targeting, led by U.S./Deputy Team Leader Nathaniel Putzig. For more details, see the SHARAD page at PSI.References
Foss II, F. J., Putzig, N. E., Campbell, B. A., Phillips, R. J., 2017. 3-D Imaging of Mars' Polar Ice Caps Using Orbital Radar Data. The Leading Edge 36, 43-57, doi:10.1190/tle36010043.1. PDF available here.
Putzig, N.E., Smith, I.B., Perry, M.R., Foss, F.J., II, Campbell, B.A., Phillips, R.J., and Seu, R., 2018. Three-dimensional radar imaging of structures and craters in the Martian polar caps. Icarus, in press. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2017.09.023. Accepted manuscript.
Putzig, N. E., Foss II, F. J., Campbell, B. A., Phillips R. J., Smith, I. B., 2016. Structures Within the South Polar Cap of Mars from Three-dimensional Radar Imaging. AGU Fall Meeting, Abstract P54B-07.
Putzig, N. E., Foss II, F. J., Campbell, B. A., Phillips, R. J., Smith, I. B., 2015. 3-D Radar Imaging Reveals Deep Structures and Buried Craters Within the Martian Polar Caps. AGU Fall Meeting, Abstract P53G-05.
Putzig, N. E., Foss II, F. J., Campbell, B. A., Phillips, R. J., 2014. New views of Planum Boreum Interior in a Migrated 3-D Volume of SHARAD Data. 8th International Conference on Mars, Pasadena, California, Abstract 1336.