STATUS OF VENUS QUADRANGLE MAPPING

Venus has been divided into 62 quadrangles for geologic mapping of the surface. The USGS published Venus maps between 1999 and 2014 at a rate of approximately 2 per year, for a total of 33 Venus quadrangles. However, in 2018 the USGS and NASA reabsorbed twelve previously funded but not completed Venus maps. Since that time, one USGS Venus map has been added to the publication queue, two are under review, and two others are in progress [3,4]. In addition, several non-USGS maps have been published, including two quad maps and a 1:20 M global map.

The Geologic Mapping Subcommittee (GEMS) had meetings in September and October 2022 that focused on Venus mapping challenges and opportunities. GEMS concluded that there is value in continuing the quad-based mapping campaign as 1) it supports local/regional scientific investigations, 2) more completed quadrangles would be useful for future global map products, and 3) mapping the remaining quadrangles would be an excellent exercise for new Venus mappers. Their ultimate finding was that the community should continue to prioritize quad-based mapping on Venus.

In their annual meeting in November 2022, the Venus Exploration Analysis Group (VEXAG) reviewed the status of Venus mapping and made a finding to NASA that the completion of the Magellan-based quadrangle geologic maps of Venus is vitally important. They found that these maps would help the upcoming missions with landing site selection and other areas of research, and that it was therefore preferable to complete the quad maps before the missions launch.

VEXAG set up a Science Analysis Workgroup (SAW) to promote and enable Venus mapping efforts in NASA research and analysis. As part of these efforts, the Mapping SAW has compiled a list of all of the published and in-progress Venus quadrangle maps that we are aware of. These maps include USGS maps, maps published in journals, and maps in-progress. Maps by both US and non-US authors were included, so that duplication of effort could best be avoided. This list is published to the VEXAG website for the convenience of the mapping community, and includes links to the published maps or abstracts about the maps in-progress.