The THEMIS Control Network of Mars

The accurate co‐registration of geospatial data is necessary to answer questions that cross‐cut disciplines and are key to understanding fundamental questions about our Solar System. To address this need and provide an updated product for Mars that is tied to a common reference frame, we have photogrammetrically controlled Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) daytime and nighttime infrared IR images. Using this improved image position knowledge, we generated orthorectified daytime and nighttime IR mosaics of Mars at 100 m per pixel for the ±65° latitude region of Mars. The updated spacecraft position and pointing information for the images is also released as SPICE kernels. The co‐registration between individual THEMIS images achieves sub‐pixel precision, and the average accuracy with which we know the position of any feature within the THEMIS controlled products is approximately 200 m horizontally. A globally controlled image set, with quantified accuracy and precision, is necessary to facilitate exploration and discovery for all bodies in the Solar System. Controlling THEMIS data allows multi‐instrument science to be performed with significantly higher confidence as precise co‐registration, and the accuracy knowledge of that registration, is necessary for analyses designed to extract information from the subtle differences between multiple images. A global image mosaic of Mars where uncertainties in the absolute image position are well characterized serves a wide range of purposes, including landing site evaluations, providing an accurate base to which high‐resolution images (e.g., CTX and HiRISE) can be tied, and enables the fusion of multiple data types within a single framework.