Surveyors have been using geodetic surveying in the United States since February 10, 1807 with the creation of the Survey of the Coast by Congress in the presidency of Thomas Jefferson.[1]

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Geodetic Surveying

Geodetic surveying considers the earth as a curved surface, while plane surveying assumes the earth as a flat plane. Depending on the purpose and scope of the survey, different methods and instruments are more suitable for each type.

Geodetic surveying is a method of measuring large areas of the earth's surface with precise accuracy and precision. It uses a reference system such as the WGS84 to define coordinates and elevations of points on the earth. Additionally, geodetic surveying accounts for the geoid, which is the irregular shape of the earth's gravity field.

This type of surveying is mainly used for mapping, navigation, geodesy, and astronomy, and relies on instruments and techniques such as Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), Electronic Distance Measurement (EDM), and Leveling.

GNSS involves systems such as GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and BeiDou that transmit signals to receivers on the ground to calculate their position and elevation based on time and distance. EDM measures distance between two points by sending and receiving electromagnetic waves. Leveling determines elevation relative to a reference datum by using a level instrument that measures horizontal lines combined with a staff that shows the height of the level above the ground. [2]

Maps made of Mars, the Moon and Mercury using geodetic analysis.

Surveying on Mars

We have a lot of instruments, and a lot of data to make surveying on earth highly accurate. But how could another planet be surveyed? It turns out that geodesy has already been used to create accurate surveys of the Martian surface.

Back in 1997, the Mars Global Surveyor became the first successful mission to the red planet in two decades. After a year and a half spent trimming its orbit from a looping ellipse to a circular track around the planet, the spacecraft began its prime mapping mission in March 1999. Over a period of a decade, high-resolution scans documented gully formation, new boulder tracks, recently formed impact craters, and diminishing amounts of carbon dioxide ice within the south polar cap. [3]

Global InSight

The information and maps provided by the Mars Global Surveyor laid the groundwork for subsequent missions, including the two Mars Exploration Rovers in 2003: Spirit and Opportunity. These missions gathered important geographic data including the characterization of rocks and soils to determine if water ever existed and had topographical impact on Mars. The Rovers also helped verify the data generated by the Global Surveyor and provided data that helped establish the best location for a robotic lander. By 2018, a robotic lander, aptly named the “Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport”, or InSight was in place on the surface of Mars. For more than four years it provided important information about the planet, including:

In this artist's concept of NASA's InSight lander on Mars, layers of the planet's subsurface can be seen below and dust devils can be seen in the background. Credits: IPGP/Nicolas Sarter.

Mars has marsquakes. Its onboard seismometer measured over 1,300 seismic events. Mars has no tectonic plates, most marsquakes are caused by faults, or rock fractures, that form in the planet’s crust due to heat and stress. Several quakes were caused by meteor strikes. Recently, a quake was found to have been caused by enormous tectonic forces within Mars’s crust, surprising astrophysicists from around the world.
The planet’s three layers are different than expected. Its crust is thinner (about 15 to 25 miles beneath InSight), the core is molten and considerably larger than expected, about 1,120 miles in radius), and its mantle is cooler than the ours here on Earth.
Frozen water was discovered. InSight's onboard seismometer detected a magnitude 4 marsquake in 2021 that scientists later determined to be caused by a meteoroid strike. The discovery became an icy bonanza when NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter found that the impact had churned up a layer of water ice buried underground. This find was closer to the Martian equator than anything discovered previously. Ice deposits in that warmer equatorial area might serve as future landing sites for astronauts to use for drinking water, agriculture, and rocket propellant. Impact information also helps scientists calculate the age of a planet. [4]
Today, scientists are still learning more from the data generated by InSight.

In 1997, the Mars Pathfinder landed, delivering a robotic rover named Sojourner to the surface. These instruments found evidence that there was liquid water on the surface of the planet in the past. It also found that the airborne dust is actually magnetic. [5]

Future in-person surveying?

Today, NASA has five operating missions on Mars, including the Perseverance Rover that is gathering rock and atmosphere samples that will be returned to Earth for study. The planning and engineering for the return flight is a joint effort between NASA and the European Space Agency and is still underway.

All of this data is being used by agencies and companies throughout the world. Esri, a leader in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) that is key to the work of surveyors, has applied the Mars coordinate systems with a 3D globe, using data from the Perseverance rover. This page gives everyone the chance to explore Mars, with tools to measure the size of craters, determine elevation and understand size and scale of geographic formations. See it here.

What does future Mars exploration hold? It could be human exploration. Preparations are being made, primarily through robotic exploration, to provide essential information about current weather, winds, radiation, and dust environment[6], so that NASA can send explorers to Mars.

Surveyors have always been intrepid explorers, as we know from the early years in our nation’s history. Without a doubt, surveying will be a key part of defining the future of the Red Planet. Berntsen will be right along with surveyors on Mars, providing the tools they need to get the job done.

References:

[1] https://www.ngs.noaa.gov/PUBS_LIB/geodetic_survey_1807.html

[2] https://www.linkedin.com/advice/1/what-most-suitable-methods-instruments-geodetic-surveying

[3] Mars Global Surveyor | Missions – NASA Mars Exploration

[4] InSight Top Science Results | Science – NASA's InSight Mars Lander

[5] Mars Pathfinder | Missions – NASA Mars Exploration

[6] NASA Mars Exploration

Sources:

Explore Mars with GIS (esri.com)

NASA InSight Study Provides Clearest Look Ever at Martian Core – NASA Mars Exploration