I'm involved in three projects working with Mercury data. One of them is just getting started (so stay tuned to 2018), another is part of a geologic mapping effort of a roughly 4% region of the surface of the planet, and the other is based around the citizen science efforts of Mercury Mappers through CosmoQuest.
Please note that you can contact me for any of the papers if you do not have access to them.
Current Research: Investigating Rembrandt Basin | CosmoQuest's Mercury Mappers
Investigating the Structure and History Rembrandt Basin
2014-present
Brian Hynek - Grant PI
This is a NASA PGG-funded investigation into the structure and history of Rembrandt basin on Mercury, one of the oldest large features that should allow us to understand more of the broader history of the planet itself. There are many components to this investigation: Geologic mapping, crater mapping, spectrascopic analysis, and thrust-fault analysis.
My work is to first create the initial basemaps of the region - required for all other analysis - and then to do the impact crater studies. Creating the basemaps is not trivial because of uncertainties in the spacecraft position and pointing, meaning that I had to create an expansive control network, matching over 500,000 points across the nearly 3000 images that cover the region in order to properly render the mosaic.
My second contribution is to craters. I identified and measured almost 50,000 impact craters over the basin and surrounding region and now am working to classify them as secondary and primary impacts to increase their utility in understanding the geologic history.
Related Previous Abstracts:
Hynek, B.M., Robbins, S.J., Mueller, K., Gererpline, J., Osterloo, M.K., and R. Thomas. (206). Unlocking Mercury's Geological History with Detailed Mapping of Rembrandt Basin: Year 2
. Planetary Mappers' Meeting, 17, #7023.
Gemperline, J.D., Hynek, B.M., and S.J. Robbins (2016) Initial Results from Buffered Crater Counting for Two Large Rupes on Mercury Indicate Possible Influence from Secondary Craters
Hynek, B.M., Robbins, S.J., Osterloo, M.K., Mueller, K., Gemperline, J., and R. Thomas. (2016) Unlocking Mercury's Geological History with Detailed Mapping of Rembrandt Basin
Hynek, B.M., Robbins, S.J., Osterloo, M.K., Mueller, K., and J. Gererpline. (2015). Unlocking Mercury's Geological History with Rembrandt Basin: Year 1
CosmoQuest Mercury Mappers
2012-present
Pamela Gay - Project PI
This project was launched in mid-2013 and it was selected as a NASA Education Institute in 2015. The initial efforts for MercuryMappers were to generate a large, global catalog of smaller Mercury craters and specifically to study the question of secondary craters -- craters that form from the ejecta blocks launched when an extraplentary impactor hits to form a primary crater.
For some reason, the public doesn't seem to like Mercury, selecting any of the other bodies CosmoQuest has available to map surface features. As such, we are working to re-focus efforts towards studying secondary impact craters.
Related Previous Abstracts:
Gay, P.L., Lehan, C., Conti, A., Deustua, S., Mutchler, M., Wong, M., Higgins, J., Buie, M.W., Spencer, J., Robbins, S.J., Chapman, C.R., Hirshon, R., Lerner, T., and the Planet Investigators, Ice Hunters, and Mercury Zoo Teams. (2011). Exploring the Solar System: Ice Hunters, Mercury Zoo, and Planet Investigators