KNaCK LiDAR Scanning of Mars Analog Periglacial Morphologies on Svalbard

Kurzfassung

The remote Arctic archipelago of Svalbard represents a unique terrestrial analog environment for comparison to latitude-dependent cold climate landforms on Mars. Svalbard contains abundant periglacial features in close proximity, allowing for an integrated landscape analysis approach to understand the evolution of morphologies on Earth and Mars [1]. Here, we present new measurements using ultra-high resolution mobile LiDAR scanning techniques to characterize the 3D morphology of periglacial features (e.g. sorted stone circles (SSCs), thaw-slumps, glacial moraines) at the centimeter scale, and provide preliminary measurements of short duration (days) change detection using LiDAR. Studying these types of features is important to understand formation mechanisms and place constraints on timescales on both planets. These data are part of a broader long-term research program that includes airborne remote-sensing imaging, mm-scale 3D modeling with photogrammetry, and subsurface investigations of periglacial features on Svalbard [2], with support from the German Alfred Wegener Institute and the French Polar Institute (AWIPEV).