Page 49 - GIS for Science: Technology Showcase

HiRISE imaging for exploring Mars
The High-Resolution Image Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) platform has collected remarkable images of the Red Planet since November 2006. Mission planners at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) use these images to select landing sites for rover-based and stationary missions, such as the InSight Mars Lander that touched down November 26, 2018. HiRISE was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. under the direction of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (uahirise.org) at the University of Arizona. All available HiRISE images have been released at full resolution hosted on the cloud as a tiled service. Links to these publicly accessible services can be found at GISforScience.com.
Strange beauty
HiRISE images offer intriguing and detailed research material for numerous locations on Mars. In addition to mission planning, researchers can use the long, narrow strips of imagery to study surface features as small as one meter in size. HiRISE reveals the stark and strange beauty of sand dunes, impact craters, ravines, and canyons. These images help scientists and researchers explore Mars, search for indications of water, and even track how the planet is changing.
Sense of scale
Here, the HiRISE observation strip is located within the Aram Chaos crater, a large, ancient, and highly eroded impact crater. At more than 280 kilometers (174 miles) across, Aram Chaos would engulf the entire Los Angeles basin and San Diego. Zooming in reveals many smaller craters, including the one shown in the larger image. Like waves in a tiny ocean, sand dunes line up across the base of the crater. Clearly visible are apparent rock debris and possible landslides along the inside and outside rim.
Los Angeles
San Diego
HiRISE image processing and rendering: Lucian Plesea, Esri
A HIGH-RESOLUTION MARTIAN DATABASE
A Glacier in Retreat 233