MOLA: Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter Radiometry Data

Mars surface data from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA), providing radiometric measurements of reflected laser energy and solar illumination. The passive radiometry measurements offer images of Mars at a 1064-nm wavelength with sub-kilometer spatial resolution. This dataset is provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and was last updated in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Analyze Martian surface albedo and reflectance based on passive radiometry measurements.
• Map surface features at 1064-nm wavelength based on the described sub-kilometer spatial resolution.
• Study the correlation between topography and radiometric properties based on combined laser altimetry and radiometry data.

Strengths

• Passive radiometry measurements have a precision of 2% or better under full illumination.
• Provides images at a specific 1064-nm wavelength over a 2 nm bandwidth.
• Data originates from the authoritative National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is 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 Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) instrument via active and passive radiometric measurements.

Time Range

null

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 19:19:50.921726; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Mars