I've heard somewhere that we have better maps of the surface of Mars than the deepest areas of the sea.
But how accurate are the maps really? Also, how much we have mapped about the surface of Mars?
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asked Sep 5, 2013 at 15:09
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$\begingroup$ @called2voyage I meant maps; the area (in square kilometres( we have maps about. At least, I don't really think that the deepest ares of sea are less explored by man-made devices than the surface of Mars by the rovers. (question edited) $\endgroup$– Zoltán SchmidtSep 5, 2013 at 15:17
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1$\begingroup$ Again, maps to what level of detail? The entirety of the Earth, Mars, Moon, and Venus (and I believe others) have been mapped to varying levels of detail. $\endgroup$– called2voyage ♦Sep 5, 2013 at 15:18
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$\begingroup$ @called2voyage The source of the information I meantioned at the beginning didn't speak about level of detail. $\endgroup$– Zoltán SchmidtSep 5, 2013 at 15:19
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2$\begingroup$ To show you what I mean, you could say all of the Earth is mapped--if you go to Google Earth you can see the entire surface area, to a certain level of detail. But, there are many trenches in the ocean, for example, that we don't have a lot of great detail on. $\endgroup$– called2voyage ♦Sep 5, 2013 at 15:33
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1$\begingroup$ If it helps this discussion at all: google.com/mars $\endgroup$– Anthony NeaceSep 5, 2013 at 15:50
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1 Answer
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The highest global coverage of Mars belongs to the THEMIS camera, which has a resolution of 100m per pixel. CTX will likely have global coverage as well, it is currently at 75% coverage, as of April 12, 2012. No doubt this is even higher since then.
The highest resolution from orbit at Mars is the HiRISE camera, at 25 cm/pixel.
Earth's Oceans, for instance, don't have near the resolution. There is an article from 1995 for instance that states that the Ocean Bottom was finally mapped to Venus's resolution, for instance. The best map of the Ocean floor appears to be 100m resolution, with some areas of higher resolution.
answered Sep 5, 2013 at 17:44
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$\begingroup$ Do these maps include anything beyond elevation? $\endgroup$– gerritSep 5, 2013 at 18:18
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$\begingroup$ The Mars ones (ocean floor would be interesting too, but the question would likely be off-topic here). $\endgroup$– gerritSep 5, 2013 at 18:55
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$\begingroup$ Mars are all photographs, similar to seen in Google Earth. The highest elevation map of Mars is MOLA, with a resolution of about 1 km/pixel. See pubs.usgs.gov/imap/i2782 $\endgroup$– PearsonArtPhoto ♦Sep 5, 2013 at 18:58