MESSENGER MLA: Mercury Laser Altimeter Surface Profile Data

MESSENGER Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA) Reduced Data Record (RDR) products contain calibrated, geolocated range data. The data consists of profile measurements of the planetary radius, taken by a solid-state pulsed laser from the spacecraft. This dataset is provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and was last updated in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Model Mercury's global topography and shape based on planetary radius profiles.
• Analyze surface roughness and crater morphology based on calibrated range data.
• Validate or refine gravitational models of Mercury using geolocated altimetry.
• Study the geological history of Mercury through high-resolution surface elevation data.

Strengths

• Data is calibrated and geolocated, suggesting a processed, analysis-ready state.
• Provided by the authoritative source, National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
• Last updated in March 2026, indicating potential recent maintenance.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and file size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Collected by the MESSENGER spacecraft's Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA) instrument.

Time Range

null

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 04:52:36.678650; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Mercury