Ken Herkenhoff is a Scientist at Astrogeology Science Center.
Ken Herkenhoff has been interested in astrophotography since he was a child, and now specializes in imaging Mars. His love of the outdoors led him to study geology and earn a Bachelor’s degree in that subject at the University of California, Berkeley in 1981. After working for a few months in a geostatistics group at Fluor Mining and Metals, he returned to school to study planetary science at Caltech. He recalibrated the Mariner 9 cameras and used the improved images to study the south polar layered deposits on Mars, which are thought to record climate variations on Mars that are similar to ice ages on Earth. He earned a doctorate in Planetary Sciences at Caltech in 1989.
Ken was a post-doctoral researcher at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena for two years, where he continued geologic mapping of the south polar region of Mars and studied the photometry of Mars and its satellites. He was hired as a research scientist at JPL in 1991 and became involved in several planetary missions, including Mars Observer, Cassini, and Mars Pathfinder. The success of Mars Pathfinder and its Sojouner rover led to his involvement in the Mars Exploration Rover missions as science lead for the Microscopic Imagers. These larger rovers landed on Mars in January 2004; Opportunity explored Mars until a global dust storm ended its mission in 2018. In 1998 he moved from JPL to the U. S. Geological Survey’s Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona, where he currently works as a research geologist. Ken is a Co-Investigator on the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission, and on the Curiosity Mastcam/MAHLI/MARDI and ChemCam science teams. Curiosity landed on August 5, 2012 and continues to explore Gale crater on Mars. He is also a Co-Investigator on the Perseverance rover Mastcam-Z science team. Perseverance landed on Mars on February 18, 2021 and is currently exploring Jezero crater.
Ken has published hundreds of papers and abstracts as first or co-author on various topics including the impact origin of Upheaval Dome (Utah), light scattering in Mars’ atmosphere, and Phobos photometry. But most of his work has focused on the design, calibration, and operation of cameras on Mars spacecraft.
Science and Products
Planetary Volatiles: Snow and Ice
Geologic map of the MTM 85200 quadrangle, Olympia Rupes region of Mars
Geologic map of the MTM 85080 Quadrangle, Chasma Boreale Region of Mars
Geologic Map of the MTM-85000 Quadrangle, Planum Australe Region of Mars
Geologic map of the MTM -85280 quadrangle, Planum Australe region of Mars
Comparison of ventifact orientations and recent wind direction indicators on the floor of Jezero crater, Mars
Overview of the morphology and chemistry of diagenetic features in the clay-rich Glen Torridon Unit of Gale Crater, Mars
hical—The HiRISE radiometric calibration software developed within the ISIS3 planetary image processing suite
Active Mars: A dynamic world
Solar-system-wide significance of Mars polar science
Alternating wet and dry depositional environments recorded in the stratigraphy of Mt Sharp at Gale Crater, Mars
The Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mast camera zoom (Mastcam-Z) multispectral, stereoscopic imaging investigation
Overview of spirit microscopic imager results
The thermophysical properties of the Bagnold Dunes, Mars: Ground truthing orbital data
The Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover Mastcam instruments: Preflight and in-flight calibration, validation, and data archiving
In situ detection of boron by ChemCam on Mars
The U.S. Geological Survey Astrogeology Science Center
Science and Products
- Science
Planetary Volatiles: Snow and Ice
The USGS Astrogeology Science Center conducts research on planetary volatiles. Volatiles include substances that have a high vapor pressure relative to the ambient atmosphere. We study the longevity, locations and other characteristics of volatiles. More specifically: H2O ice, snow and frost are volatiles on the Earth. We study the persistence of perennial snowfields in Colorado and Mongolia. Mars... - Maps
Geologic map of the MTM 85200 quadrangle, Olympia Rupes region of Mars
The north polar region of Mars is dominated by Planum Boreum, a roughly circular, domical plateau that rises >2,500 m above the surrounding lowland. Planum Boreum is >1,500 km in diameter, contains deep, curvilinear troughs and chasmata, isolated cavi, and marginal scarps and slopes. The north polar plateau is surrounded by low-lying and nearly horizontal plains of various surface texture, geologiGeologic map of the MTM 85080 Quadrangle, Chasma Boreale Region of Mars
The polar deposits on Mars probably record martian climate history over the last 107 to 109 years (for example, Thomas and others, 1992). The area shown on this map includes polar layered deposits and polar ice, as well as some outcrops of older, underlying terrain. This quadrangle was mapped using Viking Orbiter images in order to study the relations among erosional and depositional processes onGeologic Map of the MTM-85000 Quadrangle, Planum Australe Region of Mars
Introduction The polar deposits on Mars probably record martian climate history over the last 107 to 109 years (for example, Thomas and others, 1992). The area shown on this map includes layered polar deposits and residual polar ice, as well as some exposures of older terrain. Howard and others (1982) noted that an area (at lat 84.8 S., long 356 W.) near a 23-km diameter impact crater (Plaut anGeologic map of the MTM -85280 quadrangle, Planum Australe region of Mars
The polar deposits on Mars are of great interest because they probably record martian climate variations (Thomas and others, 1992). The area shown on this map includes polar layered deposits with distinct low-albedo features and a sharp boundary between the layered deposits and the moderately cratered unit that forms the floor of Chasma Australe. Detailed mapping of this quadrangle was undertaken - Publications
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Comparison of ventifact orientations and recent wind direction indicators on the floor of Jezero crater, Mars
Wind-abraded rocks and aeolian bedforms have been observed at the Mars 2020 Perseverance landing site, providing evidence for recent and older wind directions. This study reports orientations of aeolian features measured in Perseverance images to infer formative wind directions. It compares these measurements with orbital observations, climate model predictions, and wind data acquired by the MarsOverview of the morphology and chemistry of diagenetic features in the clay-rich Glen Torridon Unit of Gale Crater, Mars
The clay-rich Glen Torridon region of Gale crater, Mars, was explored between sols 2300 and 3007. Here, we analyzed the diagenetic features observed by Curiosity, including veins, cements, nodules, and nodular bedrock, using the ChemCam, Mastcam, and Mars Hand Lens Imager instruments. We discovered many diagenetic features in Glen Torridon, including dark-toned iron- and manganese-rich veins, magnhical—The HiRISE radiometric calibration software developed within the ISIS3 planetary image processing suite
IntroductionThis report summarizes the software and algorithms that are used to calibrate images returned by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft. The instrument design and data processing methods are summarized below, followed by a description of relevant calibration data and details of the calibration procedure. IActive Mars: A dynamic world
Mars exhibits diverse surface changes at all latitudes and all seasons. Active processes include impact cratering, aeolian sand and dust transport, a variety of slope processes, changes in polar ices, and diverse effects of seasonal CO2 frost. The extent of surface change has been surprising and indicates that the present climate is capable of reshaping the surface. Activity has important implicatSolar-system-wide significance of Mars polar science
1. The North Polar Layered Deposits contain thousands of ice layers that record accumulation and climate history for at least several million years, making the most accessible and most complete climate record aside from the Earth’s – and the only one to record the impact of large obliquity shifts. 2. Mars Polar Science is a diverse and integrated system spanning much of the planet, above and belowAlternating wet and dry depositional environments recorded in the stratigraphy of Mt Sharp at Gale Crater, Mars
The Curiosity rover is exploring Hesperian-aged stratigraphy in Gale crater, Mars, where a transition from clay-bearing units to a layered sulfate-bearing unit has been interpreted to represent a major environmental transition of unknown character. We present the first description of key facies in the sulfate-bearing unit, recently observed in the distance by the rover, and propose a model for chaThe Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mast camera zoom (Mastcam-Z) multispectral, stereoscopic imaging investigation
Mastcam-Z is a multispectral, stereoscopic imaging investigation on the Mars 2020 mission’s Perseverance rover. Mastcam-Z consists of a pair of focusable, 4:1 zoomable cameras that provide broadband red/green/blue and narrowband 400-1000 nm color imaging with fields of view from 25.6° × 19.2° (26 mm focal length at 283 μrad/pixel) to 6.2° × 4.6° (110 mm focal length at 67.4 μrad/pixel). The cameraOverview of spirit microscopic imager results
This paper provides an overview of Mars Exploration Rover Spirit Microscopic Imager (MI) operations and the calibration, processing, and analysis of MI data. The focus of this overview is on the last five Earth years (2005–2010) of Spirit's mission in Gusev crater, supplementing the previous overview of the first 450 sols of the Spirit MI investigation. Updates to radiometric calibration using in‐The thermophysical properties of the Bagnold Dunes, Mars: Ground truthing orbital data
We compare the thermophysical properties and particle sizes derived from the Mars Science Laboratory rover's Ground Temperature Sensor of the Bagnold dunes, specifically Namib dune, to those derived orbitally from Thermal Emission Imaging System, ultimately linking these measurements to ground truth particle sizes determined from Mars Hand Lens Imager images. In general, we find that all three datThe Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover Mastcam instruments: Preflight and in-flight calibration, validation, and data archiving
The NASA Curiosity rover Mast Camera (Mastcam) system is a pair of fixed-focal length, multispectral, color CCD imagers mounted ~2 m above the surface on the rover's remote sensing mast, along with associated electronics and an onboard calibration target. The left Mastcam (M-34) has a 34 mm focal length, an instantaneous field of view (IFOV) of 0.22 mrad, and a FOV of 20° × 15° over the full 1648In situ detection of boron by ChemCam on Mars
We report the first in situ detection of boron on Mars. Boron has been detected in Gale crater at levelsThe U.S. Geological Survey Astrogeology Science Center
In 1960, Eugene Shoemaker and a small team of other scientists founded the field of astrogeology to develop tools and methods for astronauts studying the geology of the Moon and other planetary bodies. Subsequently, in 1962, the U.S. Geological Survey Branch of Astrogeology was established in Menlo Park, California. In 1963, the Branch moved to Flagstaff, Arizona, to be closer to the young lava fl - News