Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter CTX Targeted Digital Terrain Models and Orthoimages

More than 5000 targeted stereopairs were collected by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's HiRISE sensor as of March 2023. This dataset contains derived Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) and orthoimages from the lower-resolution Context Camera (CTX) stereopairs, processed using the NASA Ames Stereopipeline. The DTMs are absolutely controlled to the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) product, providing a geodetic reference frame for Mars.

Use Cases

• Generate high-resolution topographic maps of Mars based on CTX-derived DTMs.
• Analyze Martian surface morphology and geological features using orthoimages.
• Align and integrate other Martian datasets using the MOLA-controlled geodetic reference frame.
• Model terrain for landing site analysis or rover path planning based on elevation data.

Strengths

• Derived from more than 5000 targeted stereopairs, providing extensive spatial coverage.
• DTMs are absolutely controlled to the MOLA geodetic reference frame, reducing positional errors.
• Processing used global bundle adjustment to mitigate issues like spacecraft jitter.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Provenance

Source

NASA

Collection Method

Data created from Context Camera (CTX) stereopairs using the NASA Ames Stereopipeline and aligned to MOLA.

Time Range

Acquisition period not specified, but referenced data current as of March 2023.

Freshness

Data is current as of March 2023, but the last update date for the dataset is unknown.

Geography

Mars