Pioneer Venus radar results - Altimetry and surface properties

A topographic map of 93% of the Venus globe was depicted by the radar altimeter of the Pioneer Venus orbiter with a resolution better than 150 km. Extremes in relief expressed as a center-of-mass-to-surface radius extend from 6049 to 6062 km; the elevated terrain is dominated by a massive equatorial area equal in size to South America. The distribution of average meter-scale surface slopes is determined for the same regions in the 1 to 10 deg range; elevated areas have higher slopes, so that most features observed in the earth-based images are also evident in the vertical-incidence spacecraft measurements.