China’s first global color map of Mars in Robinson projection. – SCIENCE DIRECT
MADRID, 16 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Data from China’s Tianwen 1 mission orbiter have assembled the highest-resolution global true-color map of Mars to date, with a resolution of 72 meters per pixel.
As of July 25, 2022, Tianwen-1’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Camera (MoRIC) has completed imaging in 284 orbits during its remote sensing mission period, acquiring 14,757 images with spatial resolutions between 57 and 197 meters.
The collected images achieved global coverage of the Martian surface. Almost at the same time, Tianwen-1’s Mars Mineralogical Spectrometer obtained a total of 325 data bands in the visible and near-infrared bands, with spatial resolutions varying between 265 and 800 m.
Using the above-mentioned data, Professor Li Chunlai from the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Professor Zhang Rongqiao from the Center for Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering led the Tianwen-1 scientific team and their collaborators to conduct research on image data processing and global mapping of Mars. The research was published in the journal Science Bulletin.
This study used packet adjustment technology to optimize the original orbit measurement data by treating Mars as a unified adjustment network, reducing the position deviation between individual MoRIC images to less than 1 pixel and achieving a “seamless” global image mosaic at the pixel level.
The brightness and color consistency of global images were ensured through color correction and global color uniformity. The true colors of the Martian surface were measured using the MMS onboard the Tianwen-1 orbiter, and a true color reference for the Martian surface was established for true color restoration.
This study has produced and published a global color image dataset and map of Mars (Tianwen-1 Mars Global Color Orthomosaic 76 m v1), with a resolution of 76 meters and a horizontal accuracy of 68 meters. Until now, the best true-color global map of Mars was from NASA’s Viking mission, with a resolution of 232 meters per pixel.
According to the authors, the Tianwen-1 Mars Global Color Orthomosaic data products fill the gap in high-precision positioning of Mars global color image data products at a scale of tens of meters. Currently, it is the global true-color image map of Mars with the highest resolution and significantly improves the resolution. and the color authenticity of commonly used global images of Mars.
