Gravity and topographyThe paper summarizes the fundamental gravity field constants for Mars and a brief historical review of early determinations and current-day accurate estimates. These include the planetary gravitational constant, global figure, dynamical oblateness, mean density, and rotational period. Topographic results from data acquired from the 1967 opposition to the most recent, 1988, opposition are presented. Both global and selected local topographic variations and features are discussed. The inertia tensor and the nonhydrostatic component of Mars are examined in detail. The dimensionless moment of inertia about the rotational axis is 0.4 for a body of uniform density and 0.37621 if Mars were in hydrostatic equilibrium. By comparing models of both gravity and topography, inferences are made about the degree and depth of compensation in the interior and stresses in the lithosphere.
Document ID
19930043862
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Authors
Esposito, P. B. (Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Banerdt, W. B. (Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Lindal, G. F. (Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Sjogren, W. L. (Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Slade, M. A. (JPL Pasadena, CA, United States)
Bills, B. G. (Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Smith, D. E. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Balmino, G. (CNES Groupe de Recherches de Geodesie Spatiale, Toulouse, France)