Online Mars Dem Derived from Mola Profiles

Introduction: The topography of Mars is a key parameter for the understanding of the geological evolution of the planet [1]. Topographic data for most applications are represented as Digital Elevation Models (DEMs). DEMs are characterized by their spatial resolution (distance between neighbor points on the topographic grid) and the accuracy of elevations. The resolution and accuracy required depend on the geological applications from the global evolution of the whole planets to the study of small structures such as impact craters [2] or grabens [3,4]. DEMs of Mars at the local scale were mainly derived by stereophotogrammetric method during the Viking era [5]. High Topographic profiles have been recently acquired by Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) launched in the frame of Mars Global Surveyor mission in 1997. In this paper we describe how to generate DEM’s through an interactive Internet application.