Malin Space Science Systems web site states, at the time this is being written, that more than 93,000 Mars Global Surveyor images have been returned and archived at both the msss.com and the NASA USGS PDS internet sites with additional groups of images being released at approximately 6 month intervals. With such an abundance of data it is possible that some visible indicators of the presence of water are discernible in at least a few of the scenes. This is, in fact, certain in that the composition of the polar caps consists of a substantial proportion of water.

Consensus acceptance of the visible presence of solid or liquid water at latitudes appropriate for a manned landing is, however, lacking, even in the face of at least one image from the Viking lander that shows an overnight accumulation of what seems to be frost or snow. This paper presents an identification and analysis of a specific high-resolution image fortuitously located at nearly the same latitude as the Viking 1 and Pathfinder landers, although widely separate in longitude. The amassed lander-based surface data is therefore pertinent. The chosen analysis approach uses free, (or inexpensive) image analysis software installed on an average, contemporary computer and works with the high resolution image readily available over the internet to encourage the largest number of individuals to duplicate and thereby evaluate and potentially validate the procedures. The result of this analysis indicates not only that there may be water on the Martian surface in amounts observable from orbit by the Mars Orbital Camera, but it also provides a simple measure of the amount at a location relevant to a possible manned mission. Simple physical principles are invoked that lead to these conclusions as the result of a step-by-step procedure.

KEY WORDS: Mars, Mars’ surface, water, transparent, visible, image analysis, software, frost, snow, shadow

Utilizing Martian Resources