Global and High Resolution Surface Mineralogical Mapping: OMEGA/MarsExpress

Mathematics – Logic

Scientific paper

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Mars Surface, Planetary Mapping, Mineralogy, Mars Photographs, Spatial Resolution, High Resolution, Surface Layers, Mars Missions

Scientific paper

Our understanding of the Mars evolution is strongly limited by the scarcity of information concerning its surface mineralogical composition. Up to very recently, most of our global knowledge of the Mars history was derived from optical images, with the addition of the Viking Lander - followed and confirmed by the Pathfinder-soil analyses, and, to some extent, by the laboratory measurements performed on the presumed martian meteorites. The only assessments of the composition of geological units have been produced by the pioneering ISM/Phobos spectral images, followed recently by the TES/MGS ones. In spite of their limited spatial resolution, a few kilometers at best, they clearly demonstrate that the surface is not uniformly covered by the bright soil: darker uncovered areas are present over the entire Mars Surface, exhibiting distinct variations in composition, with a variety of silicates dominating the spectra. However, most key minerals have not been identified yet, as for potential carbonates for example, most likely because of a too large spatial sampling. The purpose of the OMEGA investigation, on board the Mars Express ESA mission, is to provide a global mineralogical mapping at a kilometer scale, with the capability of observing selected areas at a sub-kilometer (down to 300 m) resolution, in any targeted area over the entire martian surface.

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