The Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) Precision Experiment Data Records (PEDR) serve as the geodetic reference of Mars. However, these MOLA footprints were geolocated using outdated auxiliary information that dates back to 2003. In this study, we recompute PEDR footprint locations and investigate impact updated spacecraft orbit model rotational on MOLA’s geolocation. We observe quasi-exponent...

To build HiRISE image network with the best possible precision and accuracy, technical issues involving sensor geometry and absolute positioning need to be resolved. High-frequency random patterns, or “jitter”, in the rotation angles cause disagreements between HiRISE CCDs. To generate seamless topographic products, it is important to achieve coherence in the exterior orientation parameters bet...

[i] The surface roughness of Mars at scales from ~ 1-200 m is of interest for lander hazard and radar-sounder clutter analysis, but MOLA data are the only current source of global topographic information. We use synthetic fractal profiles to determine the uncertainties associated with deriving self-affine statistics irom detrended segments of MOLA tracks. The mean Hurst exponent derived from su...

Evidence is presented from publicly available remotely operated vehicle (ROV) footage that suggests deep-water ranging in ocean sunfishes (family Molidae) is more common than typically thought, including a new maximum depth recorded for the southern sunfish Mola ramsayi.

Factor and multiple regression analysis were used to extract the morphometric variables that contributed to feeding success in three small freshwater fishes. Of the first two factors, factor 1, showed high loading of gut weight (GW), length of the upper (UJ), and lower jaws (LJ) in mola, Amblypharyngodon mola (Hamilton), and GW and vertical mouth opening (VMO) in punti, Puntius ticto (Hamilton)...

The ocean sunfish (Mola mola) is the world's heaviest bony fish reaching a body mass of up to 2.3 tonnes. However, the prey M. mola consumes to fuel this prodigious growth remains poorly known. Sunfish were thought to be obligate gelatinous plankton feeders, but recent studies suggest a more generalist diet. In this study, through molecular barcoding and for the first time, the diet of sunfish ...