Image mosaic of the Olympus Mons volcano showing relief
Image mosaic of the Olympus Mons volcano showing relief
Olympus Mons, with an altitude of over 24 kilometres is the highest volcano in the Solar System. At its base, the volcano has a diameter of approximately 600 kilometres. This image is a mosaic from a birds-eye perspective overlaid with a colour-coded relief map, showing the differing altitudes of Olympus Mons.
The High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) obtained images of Olympus Mons during 18 orbit overflights by the Mars Express probe. This image was made from roughly 35 gigabytes of graphic data from 16 of these HRSC Digital Terrain Model (DTM) strips at a resolution of 50 metres per pixel. The finished product saw these individual strips combined into a single DTM image with a reduced resolution of 150 metres per pixel of a 650,000 square kilometre area as viewed directly from above. This area is twice the size of Germany. The resolutions of the individual nadir channel images which were combined to provide the birds-eye view range between 12 and 40 metres per pixel.