Dr. Jack Wilson of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and his colleagues analyzed archival data collected from 2002 to 2009 by Mars Odyssey’s Neutron Spectrometer (MONS).
In bringing the lower-resolution compositional data into sharper focus, the researchers spotted unexpectedly high amounts of hydrogen — which at high latitudes is a sign of buried water ice — around sections of the Martian equator.
By applying image-reconstruction techniques often used to reduce blurring and remove ‘noise’ from spacecraft imaging data, the team improved the spatial resolution of the MONS data from around 320 miles to 180 miles (520 km to 290 km).
“It was as if we’d cut the spacecraft’s orbital altitude in half, and it gave us a much better view of what’s happening on the surface,” Dr. Wilson said.
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