Footprint of HRSC channels
Date: 14 October 2001
Satellite: Mars Express
Depicts: Schematic diagram of HRSC channels within the field of view
Copyright: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)
The High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on-board Mars Express images the planet in full colour, in three dimensions and at high resolution. The camera takes 3-D colour pictures at a resolution of 10-30 m. It also has a super resolution channel that can observe selected sites at 2 m per pixel resolution. When the camera is 300 km above the surface, its footprint is 62 km by 206 km.
The above illustration shows the HRSC's CCD lines, except for the super resolution channel, within the camera's field of view (FOV). Besides the super resolution channel, the HRSC has nine channels, each consisting of a CCD (charge coupled device):
- Four colour channels, sensitive to different wavelengths.
- Five panchromatic channels, each sensitive to light in the wavelength region λ = 675±90 nm. Stereo imaging is performed using 3 of these channels (Nadir-directed, and directed at ±18.9°). The other two panchromatic channels perform multi-phase imaging and allow the determination of photometric surface characteristics.
The viewing angles and wavelength coverage of the nine different channels with respect to the Nadir pointing are:
| Direction | Channel | λ (nm) |
| +18.9° | Stereo 1 | 675 ± 90 |
| +15.0° | Near Infrared | 970 ± 45 |
| +12.8° | Photometry 1 | 675 ± 90 |
| +2.4° | Green | 530 ± 45 |
| 0.0° | Nadir | 675 ± 90 |
| -2.4° | Blue | 440 ± 45 |
| -12.8° | Photometry 2 | 675 ± 90 |
| -15.0° | Red | 750 ± 20 |
| -18.9° | Stereo 2 | 675 ± 90 |
Last Update: 1 September 2019
