Mercury stereo topographic mapping using data from the MESSENGER orbital mission

• Published in: Planetary Remote Sensing and Mapping pp. 149 - 161
• Main Authors: Preusker, F., Oberst, J., Stark, A., Burmeister, S.
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: CRC Press 2019
• Edition: 1
• Subjects: STC; Stereo Conditions; Laser Profile; Ray Intersection; Laser Altimeter; Lambert Conformal Projection; Multi-image Matching; High Resolution DEM; DTM Generation; Wide Angle Filter; Single Scattering Albedo; Reference Frame Data; Stereo Photogrammetry; Laser Spot Position; Bundle Block Adjustment; RFM; Gridded DTM; Spacecraft Orbit; Image Coordinates; Terrestrial Planets; Quadrangle Area; Tie Point; IAU; Dense Image Matching
• ISBN: 9781138584150; 1138584150
• DOI: 10.1201/9780429505997-11

We produce high-resolution (222 m grid element-1) Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) for Mercury using stereo images from the MESSENGER orbital mission. We have developed a scheme to process large numbers of images (typically more than 6000) by photogrammetric techniques, which include, multiple image matching, pyramid strategy, and bundle block adjustment. In this paper, we present models for map quadrangles of the northern hemisphere H3, H5, H6, and H7. The models are demonstrated to be in excellent agreement with data from MESSENGER’s onboard laser altimeter. Mercury moves around the Sun in 88 Earth days and is locked in a 3:2 spin-orbit resonance. This implies that the planet rotates exactly three times, as it orbits the Sun twice. The new data obtained by BepiColombo will greatly improve our understanding of planet Mercury as well as the formation and evolution of the terrestrial planets, including Earth. During the mission, MDIS acquired more than 200,000 images, most of them in the Mercury orbital phase. MESSENGER moved in a high-eccentricity polar orbit. Several complementary techniques have been used to study Mercury’s topography with MESSENGER data, including laser altimetry, measurements of radio occultation times, and limb profiling. The stereo-photogrammetric analyses require a favorable image- and illumination geometry, which affect quantity and quality of matched tie points and resulting dense image matching points. A multi-image matching technique is applied in order to derive conjugate points in each of the stereo combinations.