Randolph L Kirk, Ph.D.
Randolph Kirk’s research interests span both geoscience and mapping of planetary bodies. He has participated in many missions to the Moon, Venus, Mars, asteroids, comets, and icy satellites. He helped direct planetary mapping at the USGS since the early 1990s, and has developed practical methods for topomapping by shape from shading and by adapting commercial stereo workstations to planetary use.
Recent Accomplishments
- In 2020, NASA's Mars 2020 rover Perseverance landed in Jezero crater at a site mapped by the Astrogeology Science Center. Perseverence was the ninth Mars lander or rover to go to a site we mapped, all of which landed successfully. (Starting in 1962, 10 Mars landings attempted without USGS mapping failed for a variety of reasons. Just days before Perseverence the Chinese landerTianwen-1 became the first such mission to succeed.) Perseverance also carried our maps onboard and used them to guide its final descent, a technological first.
- We are helping to design and caibrate the Europa Imaging System (EIS) cameras for NASA's Europa Clipper mission and to develop software and procedures for making controlled image and topographic maps. As part of this task, we invented and demonstrated a new technique for correcting distortions in frame images that are read out line-by-line so that they can be used for precision mapping.
- We have used stereo images of Mars obtained by different cameras with pixel scales differing up to 50x to assess the resolution and precision of digital topographic models obtained under real-world (Mars) conditions. We are currently using similar techniques with images of Earth’s Moon to quantify how topographic models can be improved by photoclinometry (shape from shading) techniques using one or multiple images.
Education
- Ph.D., Planetary Science, Minor in Physics, California Institute of Technology, January 1987
- M.S., Planetary Science, California Institute of Technology, June 1984
- B.S., Physics, Stanford University, June 1981
Space Mission Participation
- Member, Europa Imaging System Science Team, May 2015–Present
- Member, ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter CaSSIS Science Team, August 2010–Present
- Member, LRO and Chandrayaan-1 Mini-RF Science Teams, July 2006–Present
- Member, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter HiRISE Science Team, December 2001–Present
- Member, Mars Exploration Rovers Science Team, August 2000–June 2018
- Associate, Deep Space 1 MICAS Science Team, March 2000–December 2002
- Participating Scientist, NEAR MSI/NIS Team, August 1999–July 2001
- Associate, Imager for Mars Pathfinder Science Team, July 1996–August 1998
- Member, Mars Express HRSC Science Team, January 2000–March 2020
- Associate, Mars 96 HRSC/WAOSS Science Team, March 1993–December 1996
- Member, Cassini RADAR Instrument Team, December 1990–September 2018
- Magellan Guest Investigator, October 1990–September 1994
- Associate, Voyager Imaging Science Team, 1989
Working Groups
- Member, IAU Working Group on Cartographic Coords & Rotational Elements, August 2012–present
- Member, NASA Lunar Geodesy/Cartography Working Group, December 2007–present
- Member, NASA Mars Geodesy/Cartography Working Group, June 1998–present
- Member, ISPRS Working Group “Planetary Mapping & Remote Sensing”, November 1996–present
- Chair, November 2000-October 2004, Co-Chair, Nove
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 161
Utilizing Mars Digital Image Model (MDIM) and Mars Orbiter laser Altimeter (MOLA) data for photogrammetric control
The USGS is producing digital elevation models (DEM) and topographic maps of Mars at scales of 1:250,000 to 1:1,000,000. The initial source material will be Viking Orbiter images, with a later transition to Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) when stereo coverage from that source is available for topographic mapping. The digital terrain models and topographic maps produced by this
Authors
Mark R. Rosiek, Randolph L. Kirk, Trent M. Hare, Elpitha Howington-Kraus
Planetary geodesy and cartography at the USGS, Flagstaff: Moon, Mars, Venus, and beyond
An important theme of our work is the synergistic use of a variety of geodetic, cartographic, and photogrammetric software packages. The USGS digital cartographic software system ISIS provides most of the processing capability needed for planimetric mapping tasks such as our revision of the global digital image mosaic of Mars (MDIM). The geodetic control network on which this mosaic is based was
Authors
Randolph L. Kirk, Mark R. Rosiek, Elpitha Howington-Kraus, Eric M. Eliason, Brent A. Archinal, Ella M. Lee
Recent planetary topographic mapping at the USGS, Flagstaff: Moon, Mars, Venus, and beyond
We are currently using stereophotogrammetric techniques to compile digital topographic models of parts of the Moon, Mars, Venus, and the asteroid Eros in support of the NASA program of planetary exploration. This work requires the synergistic use of the USGS digital cartographic software system ISIS for data ingestion and calibration steps, along with the commercial software SOCET SET for “photogr
Authors
Randolph L. Kirk, Elpitha Howington-Kraus, Mark R. Rosiek
Digital elevation models derived from small format lunar images
No abstract available.
Authors
Mark R. Rosiek, Randolph L. Kirk, Elpitha Howington-Kraus
Overview of the Mars Pathfinder Mission: Launch through landing, surface operations, data sets, and science results
Mars Pathfinder successfully landed at Ares Vallis on July 4, 1997, deployed and navigated a small rover about 100 m clockwise around the lander, and collected data from three science instruments and ten technology experiments. The mission operated for three months and returned 2.3 Gbits of data, including over 16,500 lander and 550 rover images, 16 chemical analyses of rocks and soil, and 8.5 mil
Authors
M. P. Golombek, R. C. Anderson, J.R. Barnes, J. F. III Bell, N. T. Bridges, D.T. Britt, J. Brückner, R. A. Cook, D. Crisp, J.A. Crisp, T. Economou, W. M. Folkner, R. Greeley, R.M. Haberle, R.B. Hargraves, J.A. Harris, A. F. C. Haldemann, Kenneth E. Herkenhoff, S.F. Hviid, R. Jaumann, J. R. Johnson, P. H. Kallemeyn, H.U. Keller, Randolph L. Kirk, J. M. Knudsen, S. Larsen, M. T. Lemmon, M.B. Madsen, J.A. Magalhães, J.N. Maki, M.C. Malin, R. M. Manning, J. Matijevic, H.Y. McSween, H. J. Moore, S.L. Murchie, J.R. Murphy, T. J. Parker, R. Rieder, T.P. Rivellini, J. T. Schofield, A. Seiff, R.B. Singer, P. H. Smith, Laurence A. Soderblom, D.A. Spencer, C. R. Stoker, R. Sullivan, N. Thomas, S.W. Thurman, M.G. Tomasko, R. M. Vaughan, H. Wänke, A. W. Ward, G.R. Wilson
Digital mapping of the Mars Pathfinder landing site: Design, acquisition, and derivation of cartographic products for science applications
The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) acquired more than 16,000 images and provided panoramic views of the surface of Mars at the Mars Pathfinder landing site in Ares Vallis. This paper describes the stereoscopic, multispectral IMP imaging sequences and focuses on their use for digital mapping of the landing site and for deriving cartographic products to support science applications of these data.
Authors
Lisa R. Gaddis, Randolph L. Kirk, J. R. Johnson, Laurence A. Soderblom, A. W. Ward, J. Barrett, Kris J. Becker, Tammy L. Becker, J. Blue, D. Cook, E. Eliason, Trent M. Hare, Elpitha Howington-Kraus, C. Isbell, E.M. Lee, Bonnie L. Redding, Robert M. Sucharski, Tracie L. Sucharski, P. H. Smith, D.T. Britt
General geology and geomorphology of the Mars Pathfinder landing site
The Mars Pathfinder (MPF) spacecraft landed on relatively young (late Hesperian-early Amazonian; 3.1-0.7 Ga) plains in Chryse Planitia near the mouth of Ares Vallis. Images returned from the spacecraft reveal a complex landscape of ridges and troughs, large hills and crater rims, rocks and boulders of various sizes and shapes, and surficial deposits, indicating a complex, multistage geologic histo
Authors
A. W. Ward, Lisa R. Gaddis, Randolph L. Kirk, Laurence A. Soderblom, K. L. Tanaka, M.P. Golombek, T. J. Parker, Ronald Greeley, R.O. Kuzmin
Digital photogrammetric analysis of the IMP camera images: Mapping the Mars Pathfinder landing site in three dimensions
This paper describes our photogrammetric analysis of the Imager for Mars Pathfinder data, part of a broader program of mapping the Mars Pathfinder landing site in support of geoscience investigations. This analysis, carried out primarily with a commercial digital photogrammetric system, supported by our in‐house Integrated Software for Imagers and Spectrometers (ISIS), consists of three steps: (1)
Authors
Randolph L. Kirk, Elpitha Howington-Kraus, Trent M. Hare, E. Dorrer, D. Cook, Kris J. Becker, K. Thompson, B. Redding, J. Blue, D. Galuszka, E.M. Lee, Lisa R. Gaddis, J. R. Johnson, Laurence A. Soderblom, A. W. Ward, P. H. Smith, D.T. Britt
Preliminary results on photometric properties of materials at the Sagan Memorial Station, Mars
Reflectance measurements of selected rocks and soils over a wide range of illumination geometries obtained by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) camera provide constraints on interpretations of the physical and mineralogical nature of geologic materials at the landing site. The data sets consist of (1) three small “photometric spot” subframed scenes, covering phase angles from 20° to 150°; (2) t
Authors
Jeffrey R. Johnson, Randolph L. Kirk, Laurence A. Soderblom, Lisa R. Gaddis, Robert J. Reid, Daniel T. Britt, Peter Smith, Mark T. Lemmon, Nicolas Thomas, James F. Bell, Nathan T. Bridges, Robert Anderson, Kenneth E. Herkenhoff, Justin N. Maki, Scott L. Murchie, Andreas Dummel, Ralf Jaumann, Frank Trauthan, Gabriele Arnold
Grooved Terrain on Ganymede: First Results from Galileo High-Resolution Imaging
High-resolution Galileo imaging has provided important insight into the origin and evolution of grooved terrain on Ganymede. The Uruk Sulcus target site was the first imaged at high resolution, and considerations of resolution, viewing geometry, low image compression, and complementary stereo imaging make this region extremely informative. Contrast variations in these low-incidence angle images ar
Authors
Robert T. Pappalardo, James W. Head, Geoffrey C. Collins, Randolph L. Kirk, Gerhard Neukum, Jürgen Oberst, Bernd Giese, Ronald Greeley, Clark R. Chapman, Paul Helfenstein, Jeffrey M. Moore, Alfred S. McEwen, B. Randy Tufts, David A. Senske, H. Herbert Breneman, Kenneth P. Klaasen
Large impact features on Europa: Results of the Galileo Nominal Mission
The Galileo Orbiter examined several impact features on Europa at considerably better resolution than was possible from Voyager. The new data allow us to describe the morphology and infer the geology of the largest impact features on Europa, which are probes into the crust. We observe two basic types of large impact features: (1) “classic” impact craters that grossly resemble well-preserved lunar
Authors
Jeffrey M. Moore, Erik Asphaug, Robert J. Sullivan, James E. Klemaszewski, Kelly C. Bender, Ronald Greeley, Paul E. Geissler, Alfred S. McEwen, Elizabeth P. Turtle, Cynthia B. Phillips, B. Randy Tufts, James W. Head, Robert T. Pappalardo, Kevin B. Jones, Clark R. Chapman, Michael J.S. Belton, Randolph L. Kirk, David Morrison
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 161
Utilizing Mars Digital Image Model (MDIM) and Mars Orbiter laser Altimeter (MOLA) data for photogrammetric control
The USGS is producing digital elevation models (DEM) and topographic maps of Mars at scales of 1:250,000 to 1:1,000,000. The initial source material will be Viking Orbiter images, with a later transition to Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) when stereo coverage from that source is available for topographic mapping. The digital terrain models and topographic maps produced by this
Authors
Mark R. Rosiek, Randolph L. Kirk, Trent M. Hare, Elpitha Howington-Kraus
Planetary geodesy and cartography at the USGS, Flagstaff: Moon, Mars, Venus, and beyond
An important theme of our work is the synergistic use of a variety of geodetic, cartographic, and photogrammetric software packages. The USGS digital cartographic software system ISIS provides most of the processing capability needed for planimetric mapping tasks such as our revision of the global digital image mosaic of Mars (MDIM). The geodetic control network on which this mosaic is based was
Authors
Randolph L. Kirk, Mark R. Rosiek, Elpitha Howington-Kraus, Eric M. Eliason, Brent A. Archinal, Ella M. Lee
Recent planetary topographic mapping at the USGS, Flagstaff: Moon, Mars, Venus, and beyond
We are currently using stereophotogrammetric techniques to compile digital topographic models of parts of the Moon, Mars, Venus, and the asteroid Eros in support of the NASA program of planetary exploration. This work requires the synergistic use of the USGS digital cartographic software system ISIS for data ingestion and calibration steps, along with the commercial software SOCET SET for “photogr
Authors
Randolph L. Kirk, Elpitha Howington-Kraus, Mark R. Rosiek
Digital elevation models derived from small format lunar images
No abstract available.
Authors
Mark R. Rosiek, Randolph L. Kirk, Elpitha Howington-Kraus
Overview of the Mars Pathfinder Mission: Launch through landing, surface operations, data sets, and science results
Mars Pathfinder successfully landed at Ares Vallis on July 4, 1997, deployed and navigated a small rover about 100 m clockwise around the lander, and collected data from three science instruments and ten technology experiments. The mission operated for three months and returned 2.3 Gbits of data, including over 16,500 lander and 550 rover images, 16 chemical analyses of rocks and soil, and 8.5 mil
Authors
M. P. Golombek, R. C. Anderson, J.R. Barnes, J. F. III Bell, N. T. Bridges, D.T. Britt, J. Brückner, R. A. Cook, D. Crisp, J.A. Crisp, T. Economou, W. M. Folkner, R. Greeley, R.M. Haberle, R.B. Hargraves, J.A. Harris, A. F. C. Haldemann, Kenneth E. Herkenhoff, S.F. Hviid, R. Jaumann, J. R. Johnson, P. H. Kallemeyn, H.U. Keller, Randolph L. Kirk, J. M. Knudsen, S. Larsen, M. T. Lemmon, M.B. Madsen, J.A. Magalhães, J.N. Maki, M.C. Malin, R. M. Manning, J. Matijevic, H.Y. McSween, H. J. Moore, S.L. Murchie, J.R. Murphy, T. J. Parker, R. Rieder, T.P. Rivellini, J. T. Schofield, A. Seiff, R.B. Singer, P. H. Smith, Laurence A. Soderblom, D.A. Spencer, C. R. Stoker, R. Sullivan, N. Thomas, S.W. Thurman, M.G. Tomasko, R. M. Vaughan, H. Wänke, A. W. Ward, G.R. Wilson
Digital mapping of the Mars Pathfinder landing site: Design, acquisition, and derivation of cartographic products for science applications
The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) acquired more than 16,000 images and provided panoramic views of the surface of Mars at the Mars Pathfinder landing site in Ares Vallis. This paper describes the stereoscopic, multispectral IMP imaging sequences and focuses on their use for digital mapping of the landing site and for deriving cartographic products to support science applications of these data.
Authors
Lisa R. Gaddis, Randolph L. Kirk, J. R. Johnson, Laurence A. Soderblom, A. W. Ward, J. Barrett, Kris J. Becker, Tammy L. Becker, J. Blue, D. Cook, E. Eliason, Trent M. Hare, Elpitha Howington-Kraus, C. Isbell, E.M. Lee, Bonnie L. Redding, Robert M. Sucharski, Tracie L. Sucharski, P. H. Smith, D.T. Britt
General geology and geomorphology of the Mars Pathfinder landing site
The Mars Pathfinder (MPF) spacecraft landed on relatively young (late Hesperian-early Amazonian; 3.1-0.7 Ga) plains in Chryse Planitia near the mouth of Ares Vallis. Images returned from the spacecraft reveal a complex landscape of ridges and troughs, large hills and crater rims, rocks and boulders of various sizes and shapes, and surficial deposits, indicating a complex, multistage geologic histo
Authors
A. W. Ward, Lisa R. Gaddis, Randolph L. Kirk, Laurence A. Soderblom, K. L. Tanaka, M.P. Golombek, T. J. Parker, Ronald Greeley, R.O. Kuzmin
Digital photogrammetric analysis of the IMP camera images: Mapping the Mars Pathfinder landing site in three dimensions
This paper describes our photogrammetric analysis of the Imager for Mars Pathfinder data, part of a broader program of mapping the Mars Pathfinder landing site in support of geoscience investigations. This analysis, carried out primarily with a commercial digital photogrammetric system, supported by our in‐house Integrated Software for Imagers and Spectrometers (ISIS), consists of three steps: (1)
Authors
Randolph L. Kirk, Elpitha Howington-Kraus, Trent M. Hare, E. Dorrer, D. Cook, Kris J. Becker, K. Thompson, B. Redding, J. Blue, D. Galuszka, E.M. Lee, Lisa R. Gaddis, J. R. Johnson, Laurence A. Soderblom, A. W. Ward, P. H. Smith, D.T. Britt
Preliminary results on photometric properties of materials at the Sagan Memorial Station, Mars
Reflectance measurements of selected rocks and soils over a wide range of illumination geometries obtained by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) camera provide constraints on interpretations of the physical and mineralogical nature of geologic materials at the landing site. The data sets consist of (1) three small “photometric spot” subframed scenes, covering phase angles from 20° to 150°; (2) t
Authors
Jeffrey R. Johnson, Randolph L. Kirk, Laurence A. Soderblom, Lisa R. Gaddis, Robert J. Reid, Daniel T. Britt, Peter Smith, Mark T. Lemmon, Nicolas Thomas, James F. Bell, Nathan T. Bridges, Robert Anderson, Kenneth E. Herkenhoff, Justin N. Maki, Scott L. Murchie, Andreas Dummel, Ralf Jaumann, Frank Trauthan, Gabriele Arnold
Grooved Terrain on Ganymede: First Results from Galileo High-Resolution Imaging
High-resolution Galileo imaging has provided important insight into the origin and evolution of grooved terrain on Ganymede. The Uruk Sulcus target site was the first imaged at high resolution, and considerations of resolution, viewing geometry, low image compression, and complementary stereo imaging make this region extremely informative. Contrast variations in these low-incidence angle images ar
Authors
Robert T. Pappalardo, James W. Head, Geoffrey C. Collins, Randolph L. Kirk, Gerhard Neukum, Jürgen Oberst, Bernd Giese, Ronald Greeley, Clark R. Chapman, Paul Helfenstein, Jeffrey M. Moore, Alfred S. McEwen, B. Randy Tufts, David A. Senske, H. Herbert Breneman, Kenneth P. Klaasen
Large impact features on Europa: Results of the Galileo Nominal Mission
The Galileo Orbiter examined several impact features on Europa at considerably better resolution than was possible from Voyager. The new data allow us to describe the morphology and infer the geology of the largest impact features on Europa, which are probes into the crust. We observe two basic types of large impact features: (1) “classic” impact craters that grossly resemble well-preserved lunar
Authors
Jeffrey M. Moore, Erik Asphaug, Robert J. Sullivan, James E. Klemaszewski, Kelly C. Bender, Ronald Greeley, Paul E. Geissler, Alfred S. McEwen, Elizabeth P. Turtle, Cynthia B. Phillips, B. Randy Tufts, James W. Head, Robert T. Pappalardo, Kevin B. Jones, Clark R. Chapman, Michael J.S. Belton, Randolph L. Kirk, David Morrison