3D Digital Outcrop Model reconstruction and Virtual Reality application for geological mapping and exploration of planetary bodies: example of the Kimberley outcrop, Gale Crater, Mars.

Gwénaël Caravaca, UMR CNRS 6112 LPG Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique, Université de Nantes

Amphitheatre Guyton de Morveau,11AM

As part of the H2020 PlanMap project, our efforts focus on developing new ways and new tools for the geological exploration and mapping of remote planetary bodies. We are able to do so thanks to the many data gathered by the robotic orbiters, landers and rovers sent for the past decades throughout the entire solar system to explore our neighbors. However, among all telluric objects, Mars still retains most of our attention.
During the first billion of years after their accretion, both Earth and Mars have experienced similar conditions, with the presence of liquid water leading to the development of hydraulic sedimentary systems that shaped the Martian surface, notably across the southern hemisphere. This raises the question of the possible habitability of Mars at a time when Life began on Earth, which is the main reason behind the current and future exploration of the red planet.
Such exploration is currently undergoing in the Gale Crater, where the rover Curiosity of the Mars Science Laboratory mission allowed us to characterize fluvio-deltaic and lacustrine environments about 3.7 Ga old. However, the sedimentary succession recorded there remains for a part uncertain, with somewhat crucial implication for the overall history of this past basin.
This is notably the case of the Kimberley outcrop, studied by Curiosity in 2014 (between sols 603 and 630). This pluri-meter outcrop records fluvial settings and stands out by the unusually high proportion of potassium-rich clastic sedimentary rocks encountered there. While the origin of this enrichment might likely be detrital, the question of the local to regional relationship of this outcrop with the rest of the Gale sedimentary series remains open to further investigation.
In order to answer this question, we reconstructed a Digital Outcrop Model (DOM) of Kimberley. We used Structure-from-Motion (SfM) photogrammetry, an efficient, low-cost and powerful method to produce DOM from only a set of photos. Given the numerous and qualitative data imagery gathered by Curiosity, we were able to compute a high-resolution and highly-detailed full color DOM of the Kimberley outcrop.
Finally, we integrated this DOM into a Virtual Reality (VR) environment: one or several users (in a collaborative way) can visualize and roam on the outcrop as if they were on the field on Mars. Using this new method of remote exploration, we are able to observe at full-scale the various sedimentary series and structures of the Kimberley outcrop, allowing for a precise and accurate description, quantification and mapping. Moreover, integration of the multi-scale DOM into VR also allows researchers to contextualize the many different data gathered by Curiosity at real scale and within their geological setting.
Digital Outcrop Model reconstruction and integration into Virtual Reality is paving the way for a new age of remote geological exploration on planetary bodies.

Keywords

Mars, Gale Crater, Digital Outcrop Model, Virtual Reality, geological mapping, stratigraphy.

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3D Digital Outcrop Model reconstruction and Virtual Reality application for geological mapping and exploration of planetary bodies: example of the Kimberley outcrop, Gale Crater, Mars.

Gwénaël Caravaca, UMR CNRS 6112 LPG Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique, Université de Nantes

Amphitheatre Guyton de Morveau,11AM

As part of the H2020 PlanMap project, our efforts focus on developing new ways and new tools for the geological exploration and mapping of remote planetary bodies. We are able to do so thanks to the many data gathered by the robotic orbiters, landers and rovers sent for the past decades throughout the entire solar system to explore our neighbors. However, among all telluric objects, Mars still retains most of our attention.
During the first billion of years after their accretion, both Earth and Mars have experienced similar conditions, with the presence of liquid water leading to the development of hydraulic sedimentary systems that shaped the Martian surface, notably across the southern hemisphere. This raises the question of the possible habitability of Mars at a time when Life began on Earth, which is the main reason behind the current and future exploration of the red planet.
Such exploration is currently undergoing in the Gale Crater, where the rover Curiosity of the Mars Science Laboratory mission allowed us to characterize fluvio-deltaic and lacustrine environments about 3.7 Ga old. However, the sedimentary succession recorded there remains for a part uncertain, with somewhat crucial implication for the overall history of this past basin.
This is notably the case of the Kimberley outcrop, studied by Curiosity in 2014 (between sols 603 and 630). This pluri-meter outcrop records fluvial settings and stands out by the unusually high proportion of potassium-rich clastic sedimentary rocks encountered there. While the origin of this enrichment might likely be detrital, the question of the local to regional relationship of this outcrop with the rest of the Gale sedimentary series remains open to further investigation.
In order to answer this question, we reconstructed a Digital Outcrop Model (DOM) of Kimberley. We used Structure-from-Motion (SfM) photogrammetry, an efficient, low-cost and powerful method to produce DOM from only a set of photos. Given the numerous and qualitative data imagery gathered by Curiosity, we were able to compute a high-resolution and highly-detailed full color DOM of the Kimberley outcrop.
Finally, we integrated this DOM into a Virtual Reality (VR) environment: one or several users (in a collaborative way) can visualize and roam on the outcrop as if they were on the field on Mars. Using this new method of remote exploration, we are able to observe at full-scale the various sedimentary series and structures of the Kimberley outcrop, allowing for a precise and accurate description, quantification and mapping. Moreover, integration of the multi-scale DOM into VR also allows researchers to contextualize the many different data gathered by Curiosity at real scale and within their geological setting.
Digital Outcrop Model reconstruction and integration into Virtual Reality is paving the way for a new age of remote geological exploration on planetary bodies.

Keywords

Mars, Gale Crater, Digital Outcrop Model, Virtual Reality, geological mapping, stratigraphy.