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Modern planetary maps are designed either as stand-alone products or as part of a map series and are commonly distributed in the Portable Document Format (pdf). With the advent of web-based map technology and its standardization, experimental steps towards digital-only and dynamic map display for planetary cartography have been made. Commonly, maps design and concepts were limited to the arrangement (stacking) of various data layers while any deeper cartographic concepts or questions about usability seemed to be of secondary importance. We here present a new cartographic approach of creating a web basemap for Mars by refining and integrating commonly available data and by building on a cartographic concept. The underlying concepts we elaborated upon are, however, valid for any other planetary body and are applicable in the same or at least very similar way to any other solar system body. With this approach we want to demonstrate that for the creation of web maps in the planetary sciences the cartographic process does not stop at the collection and literal stacking of data, but that dynamic planetary maps can have a considerably higher communication value through concepts and design. As much as web maps are dynamic, so are concepts and new developments, and we tried to implement a web basemap reflecting the common understanding and picture that laymen as well as professionals might have about Mars.

The recent identification of large deposits of sulphates by remote sensing and in situ observations has been considered evidence of the past presence of liquid water on Mars. Here we report the unambiguous detection of diverse phyllosilicates, a family of aqueous alteration products, on the basis of observations by the OMEGA imaging spectrometer on board the Mars Express spacecraft. These minerals are mainly associated with Noachian outcrops, which is consistent with an early active hydrological system, sustaining the long-term contact of igneous minerals with liquid water. We infer that the two main families of hydrated alteration products detected-phyllosilicates and sulphates--result from different formation processes. These occurred during two distinct climatic episodes: an early Noachian Mars, resulting in the formation of hydrated silicates, followed by a more acidic environment, in which sulphates formed.

International audience; The Mars Express mission was launched in June 2003 and was inserted into orbit around Mars in December 2003. Its main objective is to study the Mars' subsurface, surface, atmosphere and interaction with the solar wind. A secondary objective is to study the martian moons, in particular the largest one Phobos, thanks to a near polar and elliptical orbit which allows the spacecraft to perform close flybys about every five months. The Mars Express data not only consist of high-resolution 3D color images, but also astrometric images, spectra from 0.18 to 20 μm, radar echoes, Doppler signals from gravity experiments, and ion data. A new view of the moons has emerged from this data set, favoring now the idea that they are not captured asteroids, but rather the result of a re-accretion following a major impact on Mars. This unique set of data is available in the ESA Planetary Science Archive (PSA) and mirror imaged in the NASA Planetary Data System (PDS). This paper presents an overview of the Mars Express Phobos flybys, the specificities of their operations and the scientific achievements.

[1] Disk-resolved observations of Phobos acquired by OMEGA at a range of lighting and viewing geometries were fit with the Hapke photometric function to solve for the single particle phase function and single scattering albedos from 0.4 to 2.5 μm. Single scattering albedos were recovered from CRISM observations of Phobos using the OMEGA derived single particle phase function and are similar to those from OMEGA data. Both the ubiquitous red unit and the blue unit around the crater Stickney exhibit a smooth red-sloped spectrum, with a steeper continuum in the redder unit. Single scattering albedos retrieved from CRISM measurements of Deimos are similar to those for the red unit on Phobos. Retrieval of single scattering albedos from OMEGA data at 2.8 to 5.0 μm has greater uncertainty, but results in this wavelength range are also consistent with a smooth, red-sloped spectrum. Phobos' and Deimos' low reflectances, lack of mafic absorption features, and red spectral slopes are incompatible with even highly space weathered chondritic or basaltic compositions. These results, coupled with similarities to laboratory spectra of Tagish Lake (possible D-type asteroid analog) and CM carbonaceous chondrite meteorites, show that Phobos and Deimos have primitive compositions. If the moons formed in situ rather than by capture of primitive bodies, primitive materials must have been added to the Martian system during accretion or a late stage impact.

[1] We here reassess the global distribution of several key mineral species using the entire OMEGA/Mars Express VIS-NIR imaging spectrometer data set, acquired from orbit insertion in January 2004 to August 2010. Thirty-two pixels per degree global maps of ferric oxides, pyroxenes and olivines have been derived. A significant filtering process was applied in order to exclude data acquired with unfavorable observation geometries or partial surface coverage with water and CO2 frosts. Because of strong atmospheric variations over the 3.6 Martian years of observations primarily due to the interannual variability of the aerosol opacity, a new filter based on the atmospheric dust opacity calibrated by the Mars Exploration Rovers measurements has also been implemented. The Fe3+absorption features are present everywhere on the surface, with a variety of intensities indicating distinct formation processes. The pyroxene-bearing regions are localized in low albedo regions, while the bright regions are spectrally comparable to anhydrous nanophase ferric oxides. The expanded data set increases by a factor of about 2, the number of olivine detections reported in previous OMEGA-based studies. Olivine is mainly detected in three types of areas over the Martian surface: discontinuous patches on the terraces of the three main basins; smooth inter-crater plains and smooth crater floors throughout the southern highlands; and crater sand dunes, crater ejectas and extended bedrock exposures in the northern plains. Olivine is also detected in the low albedo pyroxene-bearing dunes surrounding the northern polar cap.

Minnaert and two-term phase function Hapke models are used to describe the photometric properties of the martian surface using HRSC (High Resolution Stereo Camera) multi-angular observations acquired along the ongoing Mars-Express mission. These observations can be pieced together to derive integrated phase functions over a wide range of phase angles. The photometric diversity at 675 nm, as seen from orbit, of the martian surface properties across Gusev is depicted with seven units. Three photometric units widespread across the flanks of Apollinaris Patera flank and the floor of Gusev Crater are identified as having high single scattering albedo with rather forward scattering properties, low to intermediate macroscopic roughness and porous or not compacted powdered surface state as indicated by the opposition parameters. Another unit has the highest single scattering albedo, the smoothest surface in terms of macroscopic roughness, associated with an extremely forward scattering behavior. The opposition parameters are consistent with the presence of transparent particles in the surface powder layer. The distribution of this unit appears quite intermittent across the crater and does not seem to indicate any relationship with a given morphological structure. It may correspond to sparse areas where the structure of the surface dust layer is the most preserved. The most pronounced photometric changes are observed in three units associated with the low-albedo features corresponding to dark wind streaks. These units have a low single scattering albedo, are the most backscattering surfaces across Gusev, have a high surface roughness and present variable surface states as shown by the opposition parameters estimates, consistent with the occurrence of large grains organized in more or less packed layers. Clear differences are seen among these units in terms of opposition effect. While one exhibits typical characteristics for the opposition effect, another appears more unusual in terms of lobe width and the third suggests the occurrence of a packed/compressed/narrow size distribution powder surface. The opposition effect thus appears to play a significant role suggesting that the surface state optical properties across Gusev are strongly influenced by the porosity and packing characteristics or grain size distribution of the upper layer of the martian soil. The mapping aspect of the investigation is quite useful to get a better sense of the meaning of the observed photometric variations. Indeed, the Hapke modeling suggests that surface organization (surface roughness, packing state) is more important than the simple physical characterization of the intrinsic optical properties of the constitutive particles. Given the overall spatial patterns derived from the photometric analysis, the variations, at least for the western and central part of Gusev Crater, are likely partly driven by the prevailing wind regimes, considered to be oriented north-northwest/south-southeast and disturbing the very upper surface layer. The present photometric results agree with independent investigations based on thermal inertia, reflectance spectroscopy, in situ photometric and microscopic imaging and support the idea of a thin layer of fine-grained dust, being stripped off in the low albedo units to reveal a dark basaltic substrate comprising coarse-grained materials.

International audience; The inventory of water and carbon dioxide reservoirs on Mars are important clues for understanding the geological, climatic and potentially exobiological evolution of the planet. From the early mapping observation of the permanent ice caps on the martian poles, the northern cap was believed to be mainly composed of water ice, whereas the southern cap was thought to be constituted of carbon dioxide ice. However, recent missions (NASA missions Mars Global Surveyor and Odyssey) have revealed surface structures, altimetry profiles, underlying buried hydrogen, and temperatures of the south polar regions that are thermodynamically consistent with a mixture of surface water ice and carbon dioxide. Here we present the first direct identification and mapping of both carbon dioxide and water ice in the martian high southern latitudes, at a resolution of 2km, during the local summer, when the extent of the polar ice is at its minimum. We observe that this south polar cap contains perennial water ice in extended areas: as a small admixture to carbon dioxide in the bright regions; associated with dust, without carbon dioxide, at the edges of this bright cap; and, unexpectedly, in large areas tens of kilometres away from the bright cap.