oul 2004 
—M 
DIGITAL CARTOGRAPHY WITH HRSC ON MARS EXPRESS 
J. Albertz *, S. Gehrke *, M. Wählisch ^, H. Lehmann *, T. Schumacher *, 
G. Neukum * and the HRSC Co-Investigator Team 
“ Technical University of Berlin, EB9, Strafe des 17. Juni 135, D-10623 Berlin — 
{albertz, stephan, hartmut, tino} @fpk.tu-berlin.de 
° German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Planetary Research, RutherfordstraBe 2, D-12489 Berlin — 
marita.waehlisch@dlr.de 
* Free University Berlin, Institute of Geological Sciences, Malteserstr. 74-100, D-12249 Berlin — 
gneukum(@zedat.fu-berlin.de 
Commission IV, WG IV/9 
KEY WORDS: Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing, Cartography, Extra-terrestrial, Production, Camera, High resolution, Planetary, 
Software 
ABSTRACT: 
Control points are filled circles (green) and MOLA tie points are 
The High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board of the European space mission Mars Express provides multispectral digital 
image data in high resolution as well as the systematic stereo coverage of our neighbouring planet. Thus, these data particularly meet 
the requirements of stereophotogrammetric processing and cartographic applications. 
Based on HRSC imagery, large-scale topographic and thematic map products of the Martian surface are generated by the Technical 
University of Berlin and other HRSC Co-Investigator team members. The main task is the production of the map series Topographic 
Image Map Mars 1:200,000. While the basics of this series have been defined earlier, it was updated e.g. by adopting the latest 
changes in Martian reference systems. These concepts as well as map sheet contents and layout are described and illustrated. The 
Topographic Image Map Mars 1:200,000 series is expected to be the guideline not only for Mars Express mapping purposes but also 
for large-scale planetary cartography in the future. 
As an innovation in extraterrestrial mapping, the production line is designed as an entirely digital process using the cartographic 
software system Planetary Image Mapper (PIMap) which is developed at the Technical University of Berlin. 
KURZFASSUNG: 
Die High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) an Bord der europäischen Raumsonde Mars Express liefert multispektrale, 
hochauflôsende Bilddaten sowie die systematische Stereo-Abdeckung unseres Nachbarplaneten. Daher erfüllen diese Daten die 
besonderen Anforderungen der stereophotogrammetrischen Prozessierung sowie kartographischer Anwendungen. 
Auf der Grundlage von HRSC-Bilddaten erstellen die Technische Universität Berlin und andere Mitglieder des HRSC Co-Investiga- 
tor Teams großmaßstäbige topographische und thematische Karten der Mars-Oberfläche. Hauptaufgabe ist die Produktion des 
Kartenwerks Topographic Image Map Mars 1:200,000. Während die Grundkonzepte dieses Kartenwerks bereits definiert waren, 
wurde es aufgrund aktueller Erkenntnisse — z.B. Neudefinitionen der Referenzsysteme — angepasst. Diese Konzepte sowie Karten- 
inhalte und -layout werden anschaulich dargelegt. Die Topographic Image Map Mars 1:200,000 wird nicht nur als Kartenwerk für 
die Mars Express Mission, sondern darüber hinaus auch als Richtlinie für zukünftige grofimafistábige planetare Karten dienen. 
Eine Innovation innerhalb der Planetenkartographie ist es, dass die gesamte Produktionslinie als digitaler Prozess unter Nutzung des 
an der Technischen Universitüt Berlin entwickelten kartographischen Software-Systems Planetary Image Mapper (PIMap) ausgelegt 
east to the right. 
e crater is located at about 203.5? east longitude, and 14.3? south areocentric latitude. 
al projection with north up and 
wurde. 
2 
% 2 1. INTRODUCTION input data for map products as presented within this paper is 
= 3 carried out at the German Aerospace Center (DLR). First expe- 
2 o At present, Mars is the subject of special scientific interest; not riences with HRSC imagery and data processing are described 
4 = less than three space missions are currently operating at the Red by Oberst et al. (2004). 
E a Planet. One of them is ESA’s Mars Express orbiter which 
8 2 carries the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) experiment The main cartographic product is the Topographic Image Map 
e. $ — an image acquisition system designed for the special require- Mars /:200,000 series, which stands for both the guideline for 
= 2 ments of photogrammetry and cartography. Since January 2004, topographic as well as the basis for thematic mapping. Special 
3 8 HRSC delivers multispectral and stereo imagery with a resolu- target maps, e.g. in larger scales, can also be derived. The basic 
e 2 tion of 10 - 20 m/pixel (Neukum et al., 2004). principles of this map series have already been defined for the 
t E failed Mars96 mission by Lehmann et al. (1997). Recently, the 
£3 a 5 systematic severe and ue latest reference pod aelinitians for Mars as well as he chere 
Qu N ata as well as stereophotogrammetric of coordinate systems have been adopted (Gehrke et al., 2003b). 
evaluation and derivation of Digital Terrain Models (DTMs), Furthermore, some contents — e.g. sheet designations — are re- 
orthoimage generation and image mosaicking — which leads to vised and/or renewed. Hence, this map series completes the 
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