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Scoria or cinder cones are relevant analogies for both the Moon and Mars and beyond. Examples include the Marius Hills complex with its C-shaped irregular cones or the pitted cones in the Nephentesu / Amenthes region of Mars. The geological complexity and possible young age of some of the planetary cones on the Moon and Mars make them suitable candidates for future robotic and manned missions. The AGPA (Augmented field Geology and Geophysics for Planetary Analogues) field campaign in November 2017 focused on one such scoria cone in the Timanfaya region of Lanzarote. One of the objectives was the measurement of surface geometries and morphologies to better classify and understand geological processes such as hydrovolcanism and phreatomagmatic activity on other planets such as Mars. In addition, detailed and accurate surface (base) maps are required for operations such as site selection, preparation, and base construction, especially when long-term robotic or human presence on the lunar or Martian surface is envisaged. Drone-based photogrammetry and ground-based Lidar data were acquired during the AGPA field campaign. While photogrammetry requires sufficient lighting conditions and is prone to fail in areas with few distinctive features, requires several viewpoints with a large baseline to compute the 3D geometry and provides generally no scale information Lidar produces dense point clouds from single viewing positions is independent of external light sources but is currently limited to large and heavy devices. The combination of the two methods allows to identify the advantages and disadvantages with respect to their application in Planetary Analogues. Preliminary photogrammetry and LIDAR results included very dense point clouds and orthomosaics with a varying resolution of 16mm to 120 mm. The database is of sufficiently high resolution to quantify grain size and surface texture variability. It is also used to identify and map cm scale lichen growth. The broad-scale characteristics (height/width/length/slope) are similar to some of the above mentioned pitted cones on Mars.

International audience; For more than a decade there has been a push in the planetary science community to support interoperable methods for accessing and working with geospatial data. Common geospatial data products for planetary research include image mosaics, digital elevation or terrain models, geologic maps, geographic location databases (e.g., craters, volcanoes) or any data that can be tied to the surface of a planetary body (including moons, comets or asteroids). Several U.S. and international cartographic research institutions have converged on mapping standards that embrace standardized geospatial image formats, geologic mapping conventions, U.S. Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) cartographic and metadata standards, and notably on-line mapping services as defined by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). The latter includes defined standards such as the OGC Web Mapping Services (simple image maps), Web Map Tile Services (cached image tiles), Web Feature Services (feature streaming), Web Coverage Services (rich scientific data streaming), and Catalog Services for the Web (data searching and discoverability). While these standards were developed for application to Earth-based data, they can be just as valuable for planetary domain. Another initiative, called VESPA (Virtual European Solar and Planetary Access), will marry several of the above geoscience standards and astronomy-based standards as defined by International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA). This work outlines the current state of interoperability initiatives in use or in the process of being researched within the planetary geospatial community.

International audience

Returning samples from Mars to Earth for scientific analysis has been, and continues to be, among the highest priority objectives of planetary science. Partly for this reason, the 2011 Planetary Science Decadal Survey placed high priority on a proposed 2018 rover mission that would conduct careful in situ science and use that scientific information to select and cache samples that could be returned to Earth by a potential future mission. In order to ensure that the potential contributions of the 2018 rover to the proposed MSR Campaign are properly planned, this study was undertaken to consider the science of the MSR Campaign concept from end to end. This white paper is the principal output of the Mars Sample Return (MSR) End-to-End International Science Analysis Group (E2E-iSAG): a group chartered by MEPAG (Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group).

Candor Mensa, an interior layered deposit (ILD) in Valles Marineris, Mars, consists of two stratigraphically distinct units, the lower of which comprises the bulk of the mensa. This lower unit is approximately 5 km thick and composed of parallel layers, 4 to 14 m in thickness and associated with monohydrated sulfates. The lower unit is disconformably overlain by an upper unit composed of thinner (< 3 m) layers with diagnostic polyhydrated sulfate signatures. The original extent of proto-Candor Mensa and its lower unit included neighboring Baetis Mensa. We suggest that the source material for both units is airborne dust or ash but that the depositional environment for the units differs. First, the lower unit was deposited during the subsidence of an enclosed water-filled basin. This basin/lake could have been frozen periodically, with freeze-thaw episodes possibly linked to Martian obliquity cycles. Erosion, including the potential action of glaciers, was able to remove large volumes of material out of the basin during the tectonism that produced the current geometry of Valles Marineris. Deposition of the upper unit postdates this event and took place in the absence of standing water at high elevation. Groundwater or snowmelt may have provided the water required for sulfate formation and deposit induration. We conclude that the major break in sedimentation recorded by this ILD deposit coincides with linking of ancestral basins into the current geometry of Valles Marineris chasmata and that it was possible to form hydrated minerals after this event. ©2014. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

Gale Crater is filled by sedimentary deposits including a mound of layered deposits, Aeolis Mons. Using orbital data, we mapped the crater infillings and measured their geometry to determine their origin. The sediment of Aeolis Mons is interpreted to be primarily air fall material such as dust, volcanic ash, fine-grained impact products, and possibly snow deposited by settling from the atmosphere, as well as wind-blown sands cemented in the crater center. Unconformity surfaces between the geological units are evidence for depositional hiatuses. Crater floor material deposited around Aeolis Mons and on the crater wall is interpreted to be alluvial and colluvial deposits. Morphologic evidence suggests that a shallow lake existed after the formation of the lowermost part of Aeolis Mons (the Small yardangs unit and the mass-wasting deposits). A suite of several features including patterned ground and possible rock glaciers are suggestive of periglacial processes with a permafrost environment after the first hundreds of thousands of years following its formation, dated to ~3.61 Ga, in the Late Noachian/Early Hesperian. Episodic melting of snow in the crater could have caused the formation of sulfates and clays in Aeolis Mons, the formation of rock glaciers and the incision of deep canyons and valleys along its flanks as well as on the crater wall and rim, and the formation of a lake in the deepest portions of Gale.