Abstract

Terrain Analysis for Vehicle Mobility on Mars
Track: 3D GIS
Authors: Francois Smith

Digital elevation models (DEMs) of Mars make it possible to apply Earth-based terrain analysis methods to the Martian surface, for vehicle mobility and other studies. We used Model Builder to apply our Earth-based Terrain Network Tools to Martian DEMs to extract useful terrain descriptions. The results fed a Vehicle Mobility model to define easier-to-travel routes across the Martian landscape. This method demonstrates the applicability of Earth-based geospatial models to interplanetary GIS.