Automated Noise Reduction in Hrsc Mars Dtms

Since the European Space Agency Mars Express spacecraft entered an orbit around Mars, the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) placed onboard has been imaging the Martian surface. Due to the characteristics of high resolution and stereo imaging capability of the HRSC, the construction of high resolution digital terrain models (DTMs) representing Mars surface topography has been achieved. However, during the process of DTM creation, errors will occur which may lead to incorrect interpretation. Therefore, the certification of DTM quality is required before any geological investigation is performed. This paper describes a new method to detect and remove noise existing in Martian terrain models produced from HRSC stereo imagery. The proposed method is here demonstrated using HRSC h1011 orbital images and positive results were achieved, in which the number and position of the noisy heights were extracted. Furthermore the method proved of great potential in reducing vertical discontinuities between adjacent DTMs when DTM mosaicing was performed. This solution for automated noise reduction has demonstrated the capability for refining Mars DTMs produced from HRSC stereo imagery, which will be helpful in improving hydrological analysis and geological investigations of the Martian surface. * Corresponding author.