Reflectance spectroscopy of Martian analogs
In this exercise, you have to solve a puzzle! The puzzle consists of reflectance spectra that you have to interpret to match rock descriptions to (photos of) actual rock samples. The spectral mineralogical composition provides the link between descriptions and samples. The suite of rock samples is considered to be analogs to rock types that potentially occur on Mars; they include volcanic rocks, hydrothermally altered rocks, and sulfates, among other rocks. Some of the samples were obtained from the Pilbara craton in Western Australia and are of Archean ages. Age-wise they may be similar to rocks of Noachian age on Mars.
The exercise was developed and used between 2007 and 2013 for the “Planetology; an introduction”-course at Utrecht University as part of their BSc program in Earth Sciences. The cooperation resulted from a Planetary Mapping Pilot Project that ITC carried out for the European Space Agency together with Utrecht University, the British Geological Service, and University College London. Later on, we used the exercise also in the advanced remote sensing course of block 2 in the AES MSc program at the faculty of ITC of the University of Twente.
A document with the solution of the puzzle is available
Download Contains:
• Instructions: Ex - Reflectance Spectroscopy of Martian Analogs.pdf
• Spectra and photos of rock samples: Folders: rock_photos; rock_spectra; usgs_spectra
• Solution of the puzzle: Ex - Reflectance Spectroscopy of Martian Analogs - key.pdf
Hyperspectral Imaging of the Nili Fossae area on Mars – exiting!
In this exercise, you will use hyperspectral imagery to see the spectral mineral diversity of the Nili Fossae area on Mars. You will get first-hand experience with hyperspectral data from Mars and some of the difficulties with using this data. First, you will analyze an OMEGA scene and produce a wavelength map to show the deepest absorption features. The result will be opened in Google Mars for comparison with wavelength maps created from CRISM hyperspectral images. This makes it possible to analyze the relationships of the spatial patterns in the images and the topography / geomorphology of the Martian surface.
The exercise was developed and used between 2007 and 2013 for the “Planetology; an introduction”-course at Utrecht University as part of their BSc program in Earth Sciences. The cooperation resulted from a Planetary Mapping Pilot Project that ITC carried out for the European Space Agency together with Utrecht University, the British Geological Service, and University College London.
A document with answers to the questions in the exercise is supplied as well as a series of screenshots of the results of the exercise.
Download Contains:
• Instructions: Ex - Hyperspectral imaging.pdf
• Hyperspectral images: folders: omega;
• USGS reflectance spectra: usgs_spectra
• Answers to questions: Ex - Hyperspectral imaging - answers.pdf
• Screenshots of results: Screenshots of selected results.pdf