Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
Dec 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011agufm.p41f..03n&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2011, abstract #P41F-03
Mathematics
Logic
[1221] Geodesy And Gravity / Lunar And Planetary Geodesy And Gravity, [1240] Geodesy And Gravity / Satellite Geodesy: Results, [6235] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Mercury, [6250] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Moon
Scientific paper
Since March 29 of this year, the Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA) on the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft has been ranging twice daily to the surface of Mercury from orbit, collecting more than 1 million ranges each month. Mercury joins Earth, Moon, and Mars as a planetary body mapped precisely by laser altimetry from orbit. Ranging covers nearly all of the northern hemisphere. The southern hemisphere largely lies beyond the 1800-km range of MLA from MESSENGER's eccentric orbit, but the 10-cm-precision MLA data will eventually be complemented by less precise radio occultation and limb profiling measurements by the MESSENGER spacecraft, as well as by digital topographic models produced by stereo photogrammetry. Mercury topography is distinguished from its larger and smaller counterparts by a relatively low (<10 km) dynamic range, less than half that of Earth, Moon, and Mars, and two-thirds that of its nearest neighbor, Venus. There are ample indications from the topography of Mercury impact structures as well as from its low-degree shape that Mercury's thermal evolution was complex and differed from those of other terrestrial planets. Central to the thermal history are the extensive contractional tectonic features for which altimetry quantifies accommodated strain. As well, MLA profiles of extensional graben within more than two dozen impact craters and basins, together with topographic and gravity field observations, will constrain the evolution of Mercury's upper crust and lithosphere. Lidar topographic data provide a wealth of geological contextual information regarding impact crater formation and modification, tectonics, volcanism, lithospheric strength, thermal evolution, and internal structure. Topography is essential for orthorectification of images and calibration of reflectance data. Geodetic topography, referenced to the center of mass, in conjunction with gravity, allows an assessment of the distribution of crustal thickness and density structure of evolved bodies. Laser altimeters are also designed to make active and passive measurements of surface reflectance at 1064 nm. This paper will report on the status of such additional data from the MLA, LOLA, and MOLA altimeters.
Barnouin Olivier S.
Mazarico Erwan
Neumann Gregory A.
Smith Douglas E.
Solomon Stanley C.
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