Inferred Thermo-physical Properties of Lava Flows - Implications for Remote Sensing of Planetary Terrains

Sehlke A, Hughes SS, Kobs Nawotniak SE, Sears DW, Downs MT, Whittington AG, Lim DS, Heldmann JL. 2017. Inferred Thermo-physical Properties of Lava Flows - Implications for Remote Sensing of Planetary Terrains. In Lunar and Planetary Science Conference XLVIII (2017). Woodlands, Texas. March 20-24, 2017. Lunar and Planetary Institute

In this study, we present field work done at a ~3.0 km long Holocene lava flow belonging to the Blue Dragon lavas erupted at the Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve, Idaho. Lava erupted from a chain of spatter cones and then coalesced into channelized flows. Our aim is to tie the physical properties of the lava to its surface morphology. Once these morphologies are mapped and high resolution DEMs are available, applying mathematical descriptions of these morphologies should allow us to extract these properties (including temperature) for volcanic surfaces of known composition on other planets and moons. This is crucial to evaluate volcanic terrains for future robotic or human science and exploration missions.

Type
Conference Proceeding Paper
Authors
Sehlke, A; Hughes, S; Kobs Nawotniak, S; Sears, D; Downs, M; Whittington, A; Lim, D; Heldmann, J
Units
CRMO
Keywords
DEMs, lava, remote sensing, surface morphology

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