Charge-coupled device imaging spectroscopy of Mars. 1. Instrumentation and data reduction/analysis procedures

Abstract

This paper describes the collection, reduction, and analysis of 0.4–1.0 μm Mars imaging spectroscopy data obtained during the 1988 and 1990 oppositions from Mauna Kea Observatory and provides a general outline for the acquisition and analysis of similar imaging spectroscopy data sets. The U.H. 2.24-m Wide Field Grism CCD Spectrograph was used to collect 13 three-dimensional image cubes covering 90% of the planet south of 50°N in the 0.4–0.8 μm region (λ/Δλ=245 at 0.6 μm) and covering 55% of the planet south of 50°N in the 0.5–1.0 μm region (λ/Δλ=293 at 0.75 μm). Spectra extracted from these image cubes reveal the detailed character of the martian near-UV to visible spectrum. Images at red wavelengths reveal the “classical” albedo markings at 100–500 km spatial resolution while images at blue wavelengths show little surface feature contrast and are dominated by condensate clouds/hazes and polar ice. Many of the data acquisition, reduction, and analysis steps discussed here are new or unique to imaging spectroscopy data sets. These techniques exploit the information contained within the spatial domain of data such as these, thus allowing more traditional point-spectral analysis techniques to be expanded into an imaging format.