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Laurence Soderblom, PhD

Laurence A. Soderblom is a geophysicist with the United States Geological Survey in Flagstaff, Arizona. He has been involved in numerous JPL planetary missions including the Mariner 6, 7, and 9, Viking, Voyager, Magellan, Galileo, Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Pathfinder, Deep Space 1, Cassini, Huygens, and the Mars Exploration Rovers.

From 1978 to 1996 he twice served as Chief of the Branch of Astrogeology of the United States Geological Survey. During 1983-84 he was a Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Scholar at Caltech. He attended New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology receiving two Bachelor Degrees in geology and in physics and Caltech where he received a PhD in planetary science and geophysics. Soderblom has been engaged in a broad collection of planetary research tasks including theoretical modeling of planetary surface processes and ground-based and spacecraft instrument development. Currently he is heavily involved in the Mars Exploration Rover and the Cassini-Huygens Missions.

Recent Accomplishments

Education

  • New Mexico Institute of Technology - Geology, B.S. 1966
  • New Mexico Institute of Technology - Physics, B.S. 1966
  • California Institute of Technology - Geophysics and Planetary Science, Ph.D. 1970

Professional Studies/Experience

  • Associate Investigator on Mariner 6 and 7 TV Team (1969-1970)
  • Associate Investigator on Mariner 9 TV Experiment Team (1970-1973)
  • Associate Investigator Viking Orbiter Imaging Team (1976-1981)
  • Member, Galileo Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (1978-2001)
  • Deputy Team Leader Voyager Imaging Science Team (1971-1990)
  • Member Magellan Project Steering Group (1978-1999)
  • Interdisciplinary Scientist, Mars Global Surveyor (1989-2002)
  • Member, Mars Global Surveyor Camera Team (1989-2002)
  • Member Huygens DISR Team (1990- )
  • Member Cassini RADAR Team (1990- )
  • Interdisciplinary Scientist, Cassini Project (1990- )
  • Member of the Imager for Mars Pathfinder Team (1994-1998)
  • Team Leader, MICAS New Millennium Deep Space 1 (1997-2001)
  • Member, Athena Science Team, Mars Exploration Rover Mission (2000-)

Mentorship/Outreach

Professional societies/affiliations/committees/editorial boards

  • Associate Editor, Journal of Geophysical Research (1971-1973)
  • Member, SSB Committee on Lunar and Planetary Exploration (1973-1977)
  • Member, NASA Science Working Group on Terrestrial Planets (1976-1977)
  • Member, Lunar and Planetary Review Panel (1977-1979)
  • Chairman, NASA Space Science Advisory Committee (1980-1982)
  • Member, Solar System Exploration Committee (1980-1982)
  • Chairman, NASA Space and Earth Science Advisory Council (1980-1984)
  • Member, NASA Advisory Council (1980-1884)
  • President, Planetology Section, American Geophysical Union (1984-1986)
  • Member, Mars Science Working Group (1983-1985)
  • Member, NASA Solar System Exploration Management Council (1987-1988)
  • Chairman, NASA Solar System Exploration Subcommittee (1988-1990)
  • Member, NASA Space Science and Applications Committee (1988-1990)
  • Member, US/USSR Joint Wkg Grp on Solar System Exploration (1988-1992)
  • Leader, Visual Infrared Mapping Spectrometer Definition Team (1984-1988)
  • Executive Member Solar System Exploration Strategic Planning Committee (1993-1994)
  • Member, NASA Mars 2000 Strategic Planning Team (1993-1994)
  • Member, NASA Mars Science Working Group (1994-1996)
  • Member, New Mil

Science and Products

Filter Total Items: 133

Hyperspectral analysis of rocky surfaces on the Earth and other planetary systems: Chapter 27

This book is focused on studies of vegetation on Earth using hyperspectral remote sensing methods. However, it is appropriate to extend the application of these methods out to other rocky bodies in our Solar System for a variety of reasons. First, minerals, soils, and rocks form the substrate on which vegetation grows on Earth. Compositional analyses of these components with hyperspectral data pro
By
Natural Hazards, Astrogeology Science Center

Opportunity Mars Rover mission: Overview and selected results from Purgatory ripple to traverses to Endeavour crater

Opportunity has been traversing the Meridiani plains since 25 January 2004 (sol 1), acquiring numerous observations of the atmosphere, soils, and rocks. This paper provides an overview of key discoveries between sols 511 and 2300, complementing earlier papers covering results from the initial phases of the mission. Key new results include (1) atmospheric argon measurements that demonstrate the imp
By
Natural Hazards, Astrogeology Science Center

Specular reflection on Titan: Liquids in Kraken Mare

After more than 50 close flybys of Titan by the Cassini spacecraft, it has become evident that features similar in morphology to terrestrial lakes and seas exist in Titan's polar regions. As Titan progresses into northern spring, the much more numerous and larger lakes and seas in the north-polar region suggested by Cassini RADAR data, are becoming directly illuminated for the first time since the
By
Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Spectroscopy Lab

Surface processes recorded by rocks and soils on Meridiani Planum, Mars: Microscopic Imager observations during Opportunity's first three extended missions

The Microscopic Imager (MI) on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has returned images of Mars with higher resolution than any previous camera system, allowing detailed petrographic and sedimentological studies of the rocks and soils at the Meridiani Planum landing site. Designed to simulate a geologist's hand lens, the MI is mounted on Opportunity's instrument arm and can resolve objects 0.1 m
By
Natural Hazards, Astrogeology Science Center

First in situ investigation of a dark wind streak on Mars

Prominent low‐albedo wind streaks issue from embayments at the north end of Victoria crater in Meridiani Planum, the site of surface investigations by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. Opportunity was sent to examine the darkest of these wind streaks and compare it to the adjacent soil in the brighter corridor between the streaks. Two nearby sites inside and outside of the streak were select
By
Natural Hazards, Astrogeology Science Center

Geology and Surface Processes on Titan

The surface of Titan has been revealed globally, if incompletely, by Cassini observations at infrared and radar wavelengths as well as locally by the instruments on the Huygens probe. Extended dune fields, lakes, mountainous terrain, dendritic erosion patterns and erosional remnants indicate dynamic surface processes. Valleys, small-scale gullies and rounded cobbles such as those observed at the H
By
Natural Hazards, Astrogeology Science Center

Dunes on Titan observed by Cassini Radar

Thousands of longitudinal dunes have recently been discovered by the Titan Radar Mapper on the surface of Titan. These are found mainly within ±30° of the equator in optically-, near-infrared-, and radar-dark regions, indicating a strong proportion of organics, and cover well over 5% of Titan's surface. Their longitudinal duneform, interactions with topography, and correlation with other aeolian f
By
Natural Hazards, Astrogeology Science Center

Titan's diverse landscapes as evidenced by Cassini RADAR's third and fourth looks at Titan

Cassini's third and fourth radar flybys, T7 and T8, covered diverse terrains in the high southern and equatorial latitudes, respectively. The T7 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) swath is somewhat more straightforward to understand in terms of a progressive poleward descent from a high, dissected, and partly hilly terrain down to a low flat plain with embayments and deposits suggestive of the past or
By
Natural Hazards, Astrogeology Science Center

Fluvial channels on Titan: Initial Cassini RADAR observations

Cassini radar images show a variety of fluvial channels on Titan's surface, often several hundreds of kilometers in length. Some (predominantly at low- and mid-latitude) are radar-bright and braided, resembling desert washes where fines have been removed by energetic surface liquid flow, presumably from methane rainstorms. Others (predominantly at high latitudes) are radar-dark and meandering and
By
Natural Hazards, Astrogeology Science Center

The lakes of Titan

The surface of Saturn’s haze-shrouded moon Titan has long been proposed to have oceans or lakes, on the basis of the stability of liquid methane at the surface1,2. Initial visible3 and radar4,5 imaging failed to find any evidence of an ocean, although abundant evidence was found that flowing liquids have existed on the surface5,6. Here we provide definitive evidence for the presence of lakes on th
By
Natural Hazards, Astrogeology Science Center

Cryovolcanic features on Titan's surface as revealed by the Cassini Titan Radar Mapper

The Cassini Titan Radar Mapper obtained Synthetic Aperture Radar images of Titan's surface during four fly-bys during the mission's first year. These images show that Titan's surface is very complex geologically, showing evidence of major planetary geologic processes, including cryovolcanism. This paper discusses the variety of cryovolcanic features identified from SAR images, their possible origi
By
Natural Hazards, Astrogeology Science Center

Topography and geomorphology of the Huygens landing site on Titan

The Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer (DISR) aboard the Huygens Probe took several hundred visible-light images with its three cameras on approach to the surface of Titan. Several sets of stereo image pairs were collected during the descent. The digital terrain models constructed from those images show rugged topography, in places approaching the angle of repose, adjacent to flatter darker plains
By
Natural Hazards, Astrogeology Science Center

Geologic map of the Mare Australe area of Mars

Science and Products