VO1/VO2 MARS IRTM: Viking Orbiter Infrared Thermal Mapper Data

Viking Orbiter Infrared Thermal Mapper (IRTM) data for Mars, collected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The database contains time, geometry, and radiative parameters for each measurement, including latitude, longitude, emission angle, and solar incidence angle. The data is described in the 1977 Journal of Geophysical Research paper 'Thermal and Albedo Mapping of Mars during the Viking Primary Mission'.

Use Cases

• Model Martian surface temperatures based on radiative parameters and model temperatures.
• Map surface thermal inertia and correlate with surficial geologic units based on thermal emission data.
• Analyze spatial variations in Martian surface properties using latitude, longitude, and instrument geometry data.
• Study the temporal variation of insolation on Mars using time and solar position parameters.

Strengths

• Data originates from the authoritative National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
• Includes geospatial coordinates (latitude and longitude) for each measured point.
• Methodology is documented in a peer-reviewed 1977 Journal of Geophysical Research paper.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data format is HTML, which may require parsing to extract structured data.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Acquired by the Infrared Thermal Mapper (IRTM) instrument on the Viking orbiters.

Time Range

Viking Primary Mission timeframe (likely 1970s).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-10 19:24:17.535748; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Mars