MOLA reference DTM and aligned HRSC DTM mosaic at the Martian South Pole
Description
Datasets from Xiao et al. (2022, in revision with Planetary and Space Science) titled "Prospects for Mapping Temporal Height Variations of the Seasonal CO2 Snow/Ice Caps at the Martian Poles by Co-registration of MOLA Profiles". An initial version of the manuscript can be accessed at https://arxiv.org/abs/2109.04899. ## abbreviations Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) Digital Terrain Model (DTM) University College London (UCL) High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) MOLA_reference_DTM_from_self_registration.tif is the reference DTM generated from self-registration of the reprocessed MOLA profiles. The heights are references to a Martian sphere of 3396 km. It covers the region poleward of 78°S with a resolution of 500 m/pixel. Projection is polar stereographic centered at the South Pole. Number_footprints_per_pixel_MOLA_reference_DTM.tif is the map that demonstrates the number of available MOLA footprints (after reprocessing and self-registration) within each of the grid element for the generation of MOLA_reference_DTM_from_self_registration.tif. The original UCL HRSC DTMs at the Martian South Pole, with a gridding resolution of 50 m/pixel, can be accessed at https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/psa/UCL-MSSL_iMars_HRSC_v1.0. Please also refer to Putri, A. R. D., Sidiropoulos, P., Muller, J. P., Walter, S. H., & Michael, G. G. (2019). A New South Polar Digital Terrain Model of Mars from the High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) onboard the ESA Mars Express. Planetary and Space Science, 174, 43-55. UCL_HRSC_DTMs_mosaic_after_alignment_to_MOLA_reference.tif is the mosaic of these UCL HRSC DTMs after being aligned to the self-registered MOLA profiles, which are used to generate MOLA_reference_DTM_from_self_registration.tif. Grid size is 50 m/pixel with a stereographic projection centered at South Pole. Height_difference_before_alignment.tif and Height_difference_after_alignment.tif show the relative height differences between these HRSC DTMs and the self-registered MOLA profiles before and after the alignment, respectively. Grid size is 170 m/pixel with a stereographic projection centered at South Pole. Relative tilts of magnitudes up to ~10 m are ubiquitous before the alignment. Meanwhile, after the alignment, height differences are homogeneous with magnitudes typically less than 2 m.