The PRoViDE Framework: Accurate 3D geological models for virtual exploration of the Martian surface from rover and orbital imagery

In this chapter, we describe the PRoViDE (Planetary Robotics Vision Data Exploitation) framework that supports an entire workflow to generate 3D geological models of planetary surfaces from separate or fused rover and orbiter imagery, which are used for an efficient and reliable geologic analysis. PRoViDE provides a comprehensive solution for planetary geological studies including tools and data products from multiresolution co-registered orbital imagery to multiresolution rover derived imagery. A special processing called Super-Resolution Restoration (SRR) is employed to increase the spatial resolution of some orbital imagery. The main components of PRoViDE consist of a geo-database (PRoDB) to gather and manage huge volumes of data, a prototype of a planetary webGIS (PRoGIS) providing interactive map exploration, a processing pipeline producing multiresolution 3D reconstructions of planetary surfaces (PRoViP) and an interactive 3D viewer for virtual exploration and visual analysis (PRo3D). This viewer relies on advanced real-time visualization and interaction methods tailored to geospatial data. Various measurement tools are provided for a quantitative analysis of geological features. In summary, the PRoViDE framework enables an efficient and accurate investigation chain for detailed geologic interpretation of a planetary region, which also serves as decision support for mission planning.