MOLA MEGDR: Global Topographic Map of Mars from Laser Altimetry

The Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) instrument on the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft collected data to determine the global topography of Mars. The Mission Experiment Gridded Data Record (MEGDR) is a topographic map based on altimetry data accumulated over the entire primary mission. It was produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Use Cases

• Modeling Martian crustal thickness and geophysical processes based on global topography data.
• Analyzing geological features and landforms based on high-resolution topographic maps.
• Calibrating and validating other orbital remote sensing data against a precise topographic baseline.

Strengths

• Data originates from the NASA Mars Global Surveyor mission, a primary scientific source.
• The dataset represents a global topographic map accumulated over the full primary mission.

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.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Data acquired by the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) instrument on the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft.

Time Range

Covers the primary mission of the Mars Global Surveyor.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 19:58:56.095603; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Mars (global coverage).