Challenges in the analysis of Mars images

According to our estimations there are already far more than two million image recordings that have been transmitted by the probes in orbit of Mars and the rovers on the Martian surface. Most of these images, is publicly available through various web services, as well as through applications such as Google Earth. To maintain an overview is not an easy task.

Not all available recorded images are suitable for image analysis. In order to check as many images as possible in the shortest time, a methodical approach is necessary to isolate the most promising images from the plurality of images.

In the last two years, our project group was able to process more than 18,000 recordings by defined check parameters. 30 sites were determined which seemed eligible for further analysis. Just five areas are currently officially documented on the MAP-Base Website. So there is still a lot of work to, especially as the documented cases are far from being finished, and will be further studied. It remains to be seen what discoveries are still being made in the future.