The Pocket Atlas of Mars has 84 pages and is available in English, Hungarian and Czech. It is part of a public outreach project supported by the Europlanet Central European Hub.
“The maps in the new atlas are edited manually, using precise data from missions and models,” says Henrik Hargitai, a researcher in the Department of Media and Communications at Eötvös Loránd University. “Thematic maps that reveal patterns in physical geography have been used for decades in Earth atlases, but this is the first time they are available in an atlas of Mars.”
We can see in it each of the 30 cartographic quadrangles into which the surface of Mars has been divided by the United States Geological Survey and, for the first time in an atlas of Mars, climate maps have also been included, showing 13 zones climatic conditions with defined limits by combining seasonal temperature and frost data.
The groundbreaking atlas also includes a one-page calendar for Mars year 36 , covering the period from February 2021 to December 2022, explaining the milestones in seasonal changes on Mars.
“We believe that multi-layered geographic maps are the future of planetary mapping,” clarifies Hargitai. “In addition to single theme relief (elevation, hill shading, nomenclature) and geological maps, feature themes (valley networks, glacial features, dunes, etc.) will be added to the maps. This requires maintenance of bases of GIS-ready feature data in a public online repository and the creation of new data sets, either from images or from non-GIS work published in the literature. “
Referencia: H.I. Hargitai. The pocket atlas of Mars: a public outreach project. 52nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 2021, abstract # 2109
