• A pair of high resolution, stereo, color CCD cameras present in Spirit and Opportunity Mars Exploration Rovers (MERs) to obtain panoramic multispectral images of the Martian sky and surface.
• Geology/Geomorphology: Past history of a landing site by generating a panoramic view of the surrounding terrain spanning full 360 degrees. It also provides fine-scale geological information of rock and soil attributes on the Martian terrain.
• Color/composition: The multispectral capability of the camera helps in determining the soil mineralogy, the various weathering processes that could have affected the terrain and the determination of suitable target spots for further research.
• Photometry: It helps in obtaining physical properties of the terrain such as grain size and roughness by exploiting the reflectance properties of rocks and soils by choosing appropriate incidence and emission angles.
• Sun/Sky imaging: To monitor dust and cloud opacity.

Camera Comparison:

Point Grey Grasshopper Camera Key Specifications:

ATTRIBUTES	ICX285	PANCAM
Sensor size	2/3”	1”
Pixel Size	6um	12um
Maximum  Resolution	1384×1036	1024×1024
Wavelengths for spectral sensitivity > 0.5	400nm – 760nm	580nm – 900nm
Spectral sensitivity at 1000nm	0.06	0.2

NIR Camera Field Testing

 

SP crater data

The data collected using this camera in SP crater, Flagstaff, Arizona can be found here