THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA FIELD TRAVERSE DATABASE FOR VICTORIA ISLAND, CANADIAN ARCTIC: A MODEL FOR FUTURE SCIENCE EXPLORATION ON PLANETARY SURFACES

Apollo missions followed very detailed traverse plans modified as needed due to time constraints. Crews on future long duration missions will likely have the opportunity to plan traverses in real-time based on previous science-driven EVAs, reconnaissance sorties, and exploration strategies tested during analogue missions on Earth. Right now mission managers are interested in best enabling science during future missions by learning the strategies and philosophies used by terrestrial field geologists. For example, the metrics acquired on all aspects of geological field traverses on Earth can be used as guidelines in planning future sorties staged from a planetary outpost.

Multi-year, reconnaissance field mapping projects carried out by the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) in remote areas of the Arctic Islands provide a unique opportunity to record the results of science-driven field traverses on a large scale. The targeted objectives for the field season are defined using remote predictive maps constructed from existing maps of bedrock geology and topography; LANDSAT, GEOEYE and SPOT 5 images; air photographs; and geophysical data. Once on site, field mapping teams rely on a combination of digital mapping technologies and traditional field methods to record observations and measurements, all of which are integrated at Base Camp into a Geographic Information System (GIS). The resulting databases uniquely record each step in the planning, execution, and analysis of geological transects carried out by field teams over a period of several weeks.

In this paper we present a preliminary analysis of the metrics recorded during 200 geological foot traverses spread over an area of 4000 km² from the GSC Minto Base Camp located on Victoria Island, Northwest Territories (N71.617787° W115.438987°). Over the course of the summer field season, 21 geologists carried out an average of 8 field traverses a day, recording data at over 2000 ground stations within the targeted study area. Particular attention is given in the paper to the (1) logistics and planning of reconnaissance vs. detailed mapping traverses carried out during the field season, (2) the decision-making process and impact of real time changes in the field, and (3) lessons learned for future exploration missions on planetary surfaces.