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Mars Radar Observations with the Goldstone Solar System RadarThe Goldstone Solar System Radar (GSSR) has successfully collected radar echo data from Mars over the past 30 years. As such, the GSSR has played a role as a specific mission element within Mars exploration. The older data provided local elevation information for Mars, along with radar scattering information with global resolution. Since the upgrade to the 70-m Deep Space Network (DSN) antenna at Goldstone completed in 1986, Mars data has been collected during all but the 1997 Mars opposition. Radar data, and non-imaging delay-Doppler data in particular, requires significant data processing to extract elevation, reflectivity and roughness of the reflecting surface. The spatial resolution of these experiments is typically some 20 km in longitude by some 150 km in latitude. The interpretation of these parameters while limited by the complexities of electromagnetic scattering, do provide information directly relevant to geophysical and geomorphic analyses of Mars. The usefulness of radar data for Mars exploration has been demonstrated in the past. Radar data were critical in assessing the Viking Lander 1 site as well as, more recently, the Pathfinder landing site. In general, radar data have not been available to the Mars exploration community at large. A project funded initially by the Mars Exploration Directorate Science Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and later funded by NASA's Mars Data Analysis Program has reprocessed to a common format a decade's worth of raw GSSR Mars delay-Doppler data in aid of landing site characterization for the Mars Program. These data will soon be submitted to the Planetary Data System (PDS). The radar data used were obtained between 1988 and 1995 by the GSSR, and comprise some 63 delay-Doppler radar tracks. Of these, 15 have yet to be recovered from old 9-track tapes, and some of the data may be permanently lost.
Document ID
20020074734
Acquisition Source
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Haldemann, A. F. C.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA United States)
Jurgens, R. F.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA United States)
Larsen, K. W.
(Washington Univ. Saint Louis, MO United States)
Arvidson, R. E.
(Washington Univ. Saint Louis, MO United States)
Slade, M. A.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA United States)
Date Acquired
August 20, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2002
Publication Information
Publication: Solar System Remote Sensing
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
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