The surface of Mars – including the location of Beagle-2 – has been shown in unprecedented detail by UCL scientists using a revolutionary image stacking and matching technique.
Exciting pictures of the Beagle-2 lander, the ancient lakebeds discovered by NASA’s Curiosity rover, NASA’s MER-A rover tracks and Home Plate’s rocks have been released by the UCL researchers who stacked and matched images taken from orbit, to reveal objects at a resolution up to five times greater than previously achieved.
A paper describing the technique, called Super-Resolution Restoration (SRR), was published in Planetary and Space Science in February but has only recently been used to focus on specific objects on Mars. The technique could be used to search for other artefacts from past failed landings as well as identify safe landing locations for future rover missions.
It will also allow scientists to explore vastly more terrain than is possible with a single rover.
Co-author Professor Jan-Peter Muller from the UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory, said: “We now have the equivalent of drone-eye vision anywhere on the surface of Mars where there are enough clear repeat pictures. It allows us to see objects in much sharper focus from orbit than ever before and the picture quality is comparable to that obtained from landers.
“As more pictures are collected, we will see increasing evidence of the kind we have only seen from the three successful rover missions to date. This will be a game-changer and the start of a new era in planetary exploration.”
Even with the largest telescopes that can be launched into orbit, the level of detail that can be seen on the surface of planets is limited. This is due to constraints on mass, mainly telescope optics, the communication bandwidth needed to deliver higher resolution images to Earth and the interference from planetary atmospheres. For cameras orbiting Earth and Mars, the resolution limit today is around 25cm (or about 10 inches).
By stacking and matching pictures of the same area taken from different angles, Super-Resolution Restoration (SRR) allows objects as small as 5cm (about 2 inches) to be seen from the same 25cm telescope. For Mars, where the surface usually takes decades to millions of years to change, these images can be captured over a period of ten years and still achieve a high resolution. For Earth, the atmosphere is much more turbulent so images for each stack have to be obtained in a matter of seconds.
The UCL team applied SRR to stacks of between four and eight 25cm images of the Martian surface taken using the NASA HiRISE camera to achieve the 5cm target resolution. These included some of the latest HiRISE images of the Beagle-2 landing area that were kindly provided by Professor John Bridges from the University of Leicester.
“Using novel machine vision methods, information from lower resolution images can be extracted to estimate the best possible true scene. This technique has huge potential to improve our knowledge of a planet’s surface from multiple remotely sensed images. In the future, we will be able to recreate rover-scale images anywhere on the surface of Mars and other planets from repeat image stacks” said Mr Yu Tao, Research Associate at UCL and lead author of the paper.
The team’s ‘super-resolution’ zoomed-in image of the Beagle-2 location proposed by Professor Mark Sims and colleagues at the University of Leicester provides strong supporting evidence that this is the site of the lander. The scientists plan on exploring other areas of Mars using the technique to see what else they find.
Learn more: Mars’ surface revealed in unprecedented detail
The Latest on: Resolution Restoration
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Resolution Restoration” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Resolution Restoration
- Master plan for Grant campus approved by school boardon April 23, 2024 at 6:00 am
The future big-picture plans for one of Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District’s campuses are now clearer after the April 18 meeting of the district’s Board of Education. During the meeting, the ...
- Largest sand replenishment since Sandy underway at Narragansett Beach – but will it last?on April 23, 2024 at 2:21 am
Since 2014 the town has brought in, on average, about 290 cubic yards of sand every year, and at an average cost of about $9,400 annually.
- BLM to finalize rule allowing federal leases targeted at protection of natural areason April 22, 2024 at 10:22 am
The Bureau of Land Management will publish a final rule soon allowing the nation’s public lands to be leased for environmental protection, a Thursday news release from the Interior Department said.
- Ripple Fiber announces the launch of the ‘Green Team’ in honor of Earth Dayon April 22, 2024 at 10:15 am
Known as the Green Team, these individuals are responsible for post-construction restoration and the resolution of general landscaping needs.
- Lok Sabha Election 2024: Mehbooba Mufti Continues To Advocate For Restoration Of Article 370 In Poll Campaignson April 22, 2024 at 8:48 am
Mehbooba Mufti pledged to continue the pursuit of Kashmirs resolution, vowing to fight for the restoration of Article 370 and reclaim all that was taken away in August 2019.
- Ahead of Earth Day, Welch introduces resolution to recognize ecological importance of Lake Sturgeonon April 19, 2024 at 8:18 am
Lake sturgeon during telemetry fieldwork in Vermont in 2023. Photo Courtesy of the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources.
- Biden Administration Announces Rule to Strengthen Protection of Public Landson April 18, 2024 at 11:32 am
The measure elevates conservation in a number of ways, including by creating new leases for the restoration of degraded areas.
- Abita council oks continued tax program for historical hotelon April 18, 2024 at 5:00 am
The 1890s vintage Abita Springs Hotel has received permission from the Town Council to continue participating in a state tax abatement program designed to encourage restoration of historical ...
- Top 5 Video Restoration Software: Attraction, Pros & Conson April 17, 2024 at 3:43 am
Introduction With your smartphone or professional DSLR camera, shooting video of any of your special moments is ...
- PACE Adopts Resolution On Support For Reconstruction Of Ukraineon April 16, 2024 at 8:12 am
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has adopted a resolution on support for the reconstruction of Ukraine. According to an Ukrinfo ...
via Bing News