Implementation of Martian virtual reality environment using very high-resolution stereo topographic data

Abstract

Topographyoverterrestrialorotherplanetarysurfacesisanimportantbasedataforvirtualreality construction.Inparticular,withinaccessibletopographysuchastheMartiansurface,virtualreality provides greatvaluenotonlyforpublicinteractionbutalsoforscientificresearch.For thelatterapplication, sincefieldsurveysareessentialforthegeologicalandgeomorphologicalresearches,thevirtualreality environmentcreatedbasedonverifiedtopographicproducts providesanalternativesolutionforplanetary research. Theperformanceofvirtualrealityimplementationoveraplanetarysurfacecanbeassessedbytwo majorfactors:(1)Thegeodeticallycontrolledbasetopographicproducts,suchasDTMandortho-image, and (2)Technologicalintegration oftopographicproductsintovirtualrealitysoftwareandhardware. For thefirstaspect,themulti-resolutionstereoanalysisapproachhasalreadyprovidedasolidbasissothat specific topographicdatasetsovertestingareaswere generatedbythehierarchicalprocessor.Toaddress the secondproblem,aparallelprocessorwithmultiple screendisplaycombining3Ddisplaysoftwarewas employedinthisresearch. As demonstratedinthispaper,theconstructedMartianvirtualenvironmentshowedhighlydetailed featuresovertheAthabascaValles(oneofformerpotentialMarsExplorationRoverlandingsites)and Eberswaldecrater(oneofthemainoriginallandingcandidatesfortheNASA’srovermissionscheduledto launch inlate2011).Theemploymentofsuchvirtual realityenvironmentsisexpectedtobeapowerful simulatorafterintegratinga3DMartianmodel,engineeringandenvironmentconstraintsforMartian geologicalandgeomorphicresearchesincluding landing siteselectionandrovernavigation.