I have been studying Mars since 2007 as my primary area of research. That's over five years. I have done a lot of research on this planet, though pretty much all of it has focused on applications of craters. You will find some Mars-related work on my Previous Research page; this is focused on just research that I have ongoing.
I have separated the bookmarks on this page into "Primary Research" which is what I mainly focus on, and "Ancillary Research" which is stuff that I've been asked to participate in a more minor role.
Please note that you can contact me for any of the papers if you do not have access to them.
Primary Research: Mars Crater Database Work || Layered Ejecta Craters on Mars
Ancillary Research: Geologic Mapping
Global Catalog of Martian Impact Craters, Complete to 1.0-km* in Diameter
2009-present
Brian Hynek - Advisor || Various Undergraduates - slave labor || Nadine Barlow - Advisory Role
This research is a multi-stage process of identification and analysis. It involves going through global THEMIS Daytime IR mosaics of Mars (or Viking MDIM 2.1 where THEMIS has gaps) and literally circling every crater that's resolved. I do this at ~500 m spacing between point resolution, and I limit myself to ≥5 points along a crater rim which limits the diameter to ~700-800 meters. I estimate my statistical completeness to be at ~1.0 km*.
The purpose of this catalog is that none yet exists and to use it to act as a comparison for my layered ejecta crater analysis. Nadine Barlow created the first global catalog in the 1980s from Viking data for craters ≥5 km, but it is somewhat incomplete, and it obviously lacks smaller craters. It contains ~42,000 craters. My published catalog contains ~640,000 craters, about 385,000 of them with a diameter larger than 1.0 km.
The applications of this catalog will be several-fold, though it was initially conceived to act as a "control" crater population with which to study the layered ejecta craters on Mars. Additional applications are what are strewn throughout this page.
Papers:
Robbins, S.J., and B.M. Hynek (2012). A New Global Database of Mars Impact Craters ≥1 km: 2. Global Crater Properties and Regional Variations of the Simple-to-Complex Transition Diameter. Journal of Geophysical Research – Planets, 117, E06001. doi: 10.1029/2011JE003967.
Accepted Draft Manuscript Link
Official journal link to final version.Robbins, S.J., and B.M. Hynek (2012). A New Global Database of Mars Impact Craters ≥1 km: 1. Database Creation, Properties, and Parameters. Journal of Geophysical Research – Planets, 117, E05004. doi: 10.1029/2011JE003966.
Accepted Draft Manuscript Link
Official journal link to final version.
Abstracts:
Robbins, S.J., and B.M. Hynek. (2014) The Population of ≥1 km Impact Craters and Secondary Craters on Mars
. 8th Int. Mars Conf., #1381.
Robbins, S.J.; and B.M. Hynek. (2012). On the Reliability of MOLA Data to Resolve Crater Topography
Robbins, S.J.; and B.M. Hynek. (2011). It's Done! A New Martian Global Crater Database to 1.0 km
Robbins, S.J.; and B.M. Hynek. (2010). Progress Towards a New Global Catalog of Martian Craters and Layered Ejecta Properties, Complete to 1.5 km
Robbins, S.J.; and B.M. Hynek. (2009). Progress Towards a New Global Catalog of Martian Craters and Layered Ejecta Properties, Complete to 1.5 km
Robbins, S.J.; and B.M. Hynek. (2009). Towards a New Catalog of Lobed Martian Craters Compared with a New Global Crater Database, Complete to 1.5 km
Robbins, S.J.; and B.M. Hynek. (2008). MOLA Data May Introduce Significant Artifacts in Crater Diameters
Robbins, S.J.; and B.M. Hynek. (2008). A New Automated Method of Determining Depth, Diameter, and Volume of Known Craters
*Originally, 2.5 km. Then 1.5 km. But, an analysis routine I wrote in Summer 2010 showed that in many places I was complete to about 1.25 km, especially in the southern hemisphere. In my final "pass" in searching for craters that I may have missed, I'm going to try to push this to be statistically complete to 1.0 km. Yes, this will actually double the number of craters, but the vast majority of them will be very easy to analyze because they will be simple, ~1-km-diameter craters. With the July 2010 release of new global THEMIS maps at 100 meters/pixel resolution in contrast with the older, less complete (especially in the mid-northern latitudes), 256 pixels/degree (~230 m/px at the equator) maps I was using, this should be feasible. And 1.0 is a nicer number than 1.5 or 1.25.
Collaborations:
Jennifer Blue (USGS) has used the database to revise the coordinates and sizes of most named martian craters in the USGS Gazetteer of planetary nomenclature. A press release can be found here.
An In-Depth Analysis of Properties of Layered Ejecta Craters
2008-2009, 2011-present
Original Work: Brian Hynek - Advisor || Nadine Barlow - Advisory Role
Current Work: Role— PI || Bryan Hynek, Nathanial Putzig - Co-I || Jamie Riggs - Consultant
This is a NASA Fellowship that I was awarded back in 2007 (my first grant!) - a 3-year grant that started in the academic year of 2007-2008 and ended with2009-2010. It is through the NASA NESSF program.
The purpose of this research is to re-do the global database of layered ejecta craters (see a connection with the above?) and to analyze them in terms of basic depth/diameter vs. latitude/longitude as well as properties of their cohesive ejecta layer(s), plus to correlate all the data with other, modern data sets such as thermal inertia, subsurface water/ice, mineralogy, and any other dataset I can get my grubby li'l hands on.
This project was technically on hold for awhile, until funded, which it was by NASA's Mars Data Analysis Program (MDAP) in 2015.
Geologic Mapping on Mars
2011-present
Ken Tanaka - Initiator, PI || James Dohm - Collaborator || Robert Anderson - Collaborator
The number of craters on a planetary surface is an important indicator of age, and with my crater database being the most extensive global one available, several different researchers have asked to collaborate and use it in their geologic mapping projects.
Papers:
Dohm, J.M., Hare, T.M., Robbins, S.J., Williams, J.-P., Soare, R.J., El-Maarry, M.R., Conway, S.J., Buczkowski, D.L., Kargel, J.S., Banks, M.E., Fairén, A.G., Schulze-Makurch, D., Komatsu, G., Miyamoto, H., Anderson, R.C., Davilla, A.F., Mahaney, W.C., Fink, W., Cleaves, H.J., Yan, J., Hynek, B.M., and S. Maruyama. (2015) Geological and Hydrological Histories of the Argyre Province, Mars. Icarus, 253, 66-98. doi: 10.1016/j.icarus.2015.02.017.
Official journal link to final version.
Tanaka, K.L., Robbins, S.J., Fortezzo, C.M., Skinner, J.A., Jr., and T.M. Hare. (2014) The Digital Global Geologic Map of Mars: Unit Chronostratigraphic Ages, Topographic Characteristics, and Updated Resurfacing History. Planetary and Space Science, 95, 11-24. doi: 10.1016/j.pss.2013.03.006.
Official journal link to final version.
Irwin, R.P., III, Tanaka, K.L., and S.J. Robbins. (2013) Distribution of Early, Middle, and Late Noachian Cratered Surfaces in the Martian Highlands: Implications for Resurfacing Events and Processes. Journal of Geophysical Research – Planets, 118:2, 278-291. doi: 10.1002/jgre.20053.
Abstracts:
Anderson, R.C., Dohm, J.M., Robbins, S.J., and J. Schroeder (2016) Completion and Submission of the Terra Sirenum Map Project
Anderson, R.C., Dohm, J.M., Robbins, S.J., and J. Schroeder. (2014) Identifying the Pre-Tharsis Structures Associated with the Terra Sirenum Region, Mars. 8th Int'l. Mars Conf., 8, #1406.
Tanaka, K.L., Skinner, J.R., J.A., Fortezzo, C.M., Hare, T.M., Irwin III, R.P., Platz, T., Michael, G., Dohm, J.M., Kolb, E.J., and S.J. Robbins. (2014) The 'New' Geology of Mars: Top Ten Results of Post-Viking Global Mapping and Crater-Dating. 8th Int'l. Mars Conf., 8, #TBD.
Irwin, R.P., Tanaka, K.L., and S.J. Robbins. (2014) Noachian Resurfacing in the Martian Highlands: Analysis of a New Global Geologic Map and Crater Database
Anderson, R.C., Dohm, J.M., Robbins, S.J., and B.M. Hynek. (2013) Mapping the Terra Sirenum Region: Window into Pre-Tharsis and Tharsis Phases of Mars Evolution. Geological Soc. Amer., 45:7, #117-5.
Irwin, R.P., Tanaka, K.L., and S.J. Robbins. (2013) Noachian Resurfacing in the Martian Highlands: Analysis of New Global Geologic Map and Crater Database. Planetary Mappers' Meeting, 14.
Tanaka, K.L., Fortezzo, C.M., Skinner, J.A., Hare, T.M., and S.J. Robbins. (2013) The New Global Geologic Map of Mars and a Revised Resurfacing History. Planetary Mappers' Meeting, 14.
Tanaka, K.L., Fortezzo, C.M., Skinner, Jr., J.A., Hare, T.M., and S.J. Robbins. (2013). Updated Resurfacing History of Mars Based on the New Global Geologic Map
Tanaka, K.L.; Platz, T.; Michael, G.; Robbins, S.J.; Fortezzo, C.M.; Skinner, Jr., J.A.; Dohm, J.M.; Irwin, III, R.P.; Kolb, E.J.; and T.M. Hare. (2012). Early Mars Revisited by the New Global Geologic Mapping and Crater Counting
Anderson, R.C.; Dohm, J.M.; Robbins, S.J.; Hynek, B.M.; and J. Andrews-Hanna. (2012). Terra Sirenum: Window into Pre-Tharsis and Tharsis Phases of Mars Evolution
Tanaka, K.L.; Rodriguez, J.A.P.; Fortezzo, C.M.; Platz, T.; Michael, G.; and S.J. Robbins. (2012). Geologic History of Valles Marineris, Mars, Revisited
Tanaka, K.L.; Dohm, J.M.; Fortezzo, C.M.; Irwin, III, R.P.; Kolb, E.J.; Skinner, Jr., J.A.; Hare, T.M.; Platz, T.; and S.J. Robbins. (2012). The Geology of Mars: What the New Global Map Shows
Tanaka, K.L.; Fortezzo, C.M.; Dohm, J.M.; Irwin, III, R.P.; Skinner, Jr., J.A.; Hare, T.M.; Platz, T.; and S.J. Robbins. (2011). Completing the New Global Geologic Map of Mars