A 3D radar image of the north pole of the red planet ‘Mars’ has revealed canyons hidden beneath the surface.
The US IT media Cnet reported on the 28th (local time) that researchers at the US Planetary Science Institute (PSI) have created a 3D map of the North Pole of Mars through radar data collected by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).
The image, called a ‘radargram’, highlights previously unseen Martian features, such as Martian impact craters and buried canyons. The researchers published their findings on the 28th in the international journal ‘The Planetary Science Journal’.
The MRO is equipped with a ground penetration radar (Sharad) instrument that allows scientists to see below the surface. The research team processed the data collected with this equipment into 3D images. In the picture above, the black ellipse marked “no-data zone” is the area that Sharad did not image.
Sharad was developed to find liquid or frozen water on Mars, but radar can also see what’s happening to the Martian rocks and sand. This helps scientists figure out how Martian geologic layers were deposited and eroded at the poles.
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The research team said that the research so far is only an early step in understanding the formation process and climate history of the Martian polar regions, and that much more work remains to be done.
In the future, researchers will identify more buried impact craters and understand the structure of the subterranean world. In addition, this technology can be used not only in the North Pole of Mars, which was filmed this time, but also in other regions.
