Planetary Science

Mars Global Surveyor

Orbiter · Directed · Agency-led · Launched on November 7, 1996 · Completed · LCC: $250M/$550M (2025 $)Life-cycle cost: NASA’s reported cost to build, launch, and operate a mission through its prime mission, plus documented partner contributions, in 2025 dollars. Extended missions are not included. Methods · Wikipedia

Scope Active Mission WindowActivePapers published from the first full month after science operations begin through two years after the mission ends. Citations are counted through the third calendar year after each paper appears. For Mars Global Surveyor, papers published April 1, 1999 to December 1, 2008. Methods LifetimeLifetimeEvery tracked publication to date, with every citation to date. For Mars Global Surveyor, papers published from 1997 to November 3, 2026. Methods
Tracked publicationsTracked publications: peer-reviewed papers we found that name the mission or its instruments in their titles, abstracts, or keywords. Papers that used the data without naming it are missed. Methods1,504
CitationsCitations: every citation these publications have drawn to date. Older missions have had longer to collect them. Methods82,620
Citation indices
h-indexh-index: the largest h such that h papers have at least h citations each. It only grows with time, so older missions score higher. Methods135
g-indexg-index: the largest g for which the g most-cited papers together hold at least g² citations. Like the h-index, but it lets the most-cited papers count for more. Methods213
m-indexm-index: a mission’s h-index divided by the years since its first peer-reviewed paper. It falls every 1 January even when nothing else changes; the figure shown is as of November 3, 2026. It also discounts the long operating life that larger missions paid for. Methods4.5
toritori (total research impact, from SciX): for every paper citing one of the mission’s papers, 1 divided by the citing paper’s reference count times the cited paper’s author count, summed, with self-citations removed. It favors citations from papers with short reference lists and from outside the mission’s own authors. Computed over the tracked citation graph, which can be slightly incomplete. Always over every tracked publication to date, whichever scope is chosen. Methods720
riqriq (research impact quotient): 1,000 times the square root of tori, divided by the years since the mission’s first paper. A rate, not a total, so it does not keep growing with age the way the h-index and tori do. Like tori, always over every tracked publication to date. Methods894

Publications and citations by year (lifetime)

Publications per yearCumulative citations

Institutional contributions (lifetime)The institutions SciX lists for each paper’s authors, as printed on the paper, located through the Research Organization Registry. A square counts a paper once, however many of its authors worked there. Methods

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Tracked publications over the lifetime (1,504)

All publications CSV · JSON

  1. Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter: Experiment summary after the first year of global mapping of Mars

    Smith, David E., 2001, JGR

    1,316 lifetime citations

  2. Global Distribution of Crustal Magnetization Discovered by the Mars Global Surveyor MAG/ER Experiment

    Acuna, M. H., 1999, Sci

    965 lifetime citations

  3. Evidence for Recent Groundwater Seepage and Surface Runoff on Mars

    Malin, Michael C., 2000, Sci

    942 lifetime citations

  4. Mars Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer experiment: Investigation description and surface science results

    Christensen, P. R., 2001, JGR

    831 lifetime citations

  5. The Global Topography of Mars and Implications for Surface Evolution

    Smith, David E., 1999, Sci

    779 lifetime citations

  6. Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera: Interplanetary cruise through primary mission

    Malin, Michael C., 2001, JGR

    737 lifetime citations

  7. Magnetic Field and Plasma Observations at Mars: Initial Results of the Mars Global Surveyor Mission

    Acuna, M. H., 1998, Sci

    701 lifetime citations

  8. Interannual variability in TES atmospheric observations of Mars during 1999-2003

    Smith, Michael D., 2004, Icar

    687 lifetime citations

  9. A Global View of Martian Surface Compositions from MGS-TES

    Bandfield, Joshua L., 2000, Sci

    673 lifetime citations

  10. Internal Structure and Early Thermal Evolution of Mars from Mars Global Surveyor Topography and Gravity

    Zuber, Maria T., 2000, Sci

    512 lifetime citations

  11. Water and the martian landscape

    Baker, Victor R., 2001, Natur

    473 lifetime citations

  12. High-Resolution Thermal Inertia Mapping from the Mars Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer

    Mellon, Michael T., 2000, Icar

    472 lifetime citations

  13. Detection of crystalline hematite mineralization on Mars by the Thermal Emission Spectrometer: Evidence for near-surface water

    Christensen, P. R., 2000, JGR

    450 lifetime citations

  14. Eight-year climatology of dust optical depth on Mars

    Montabone, L., 2015, Icar

    437 lifetime citations

  15. Magnetic Lineations in the Ancient Crust of Mars

    Connerney, J. E. P., 1999, Sci

    432 lifetime citations

  16. A synthesis of Martian aqueous mineralogy after 1 Mars year of observations from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

    Murchie, Scott L., 2009, JGRE

    420 lifetime citations

  17. Ages and Geologic Histories of Martian Meteorites

    Nyquist, L. E., 2001, SSRv

    411 lifetime citations

  18. Evidence for Persistent Flow and Aqueous Sedimentation on Early Mars

    Malin, Michael C., 2003, Sci

    411 lifetime citations

  19. The case for rainfall on a warm, wet early Mars

    Craddock, Robert A., 2002, JGRE

    409 lifetime citations

  20. Present-Day Impact Cratering Rate and Contemporary Gully Activity on Mars

    Malin, Michael C., 2006, Sci

    399 lifetime citations

How we found these papers

We searched NASA’s Science Explorer (SciX) for peer-reviewed articles naming Mars Global Surveyor in the title, abstract or keywords; standard filters drop articles that are not peer-reviewed and magazine pieces.

((=abs:"Global Surveyor" OR (abs:MGS AND abs:Mars) OR =abs:"Mars Orbital Camera" OR =abs:"Mars Orbital Laser Altimeter" OR ((=abs:Mars OR =abs:Martian) AND (abs:MOLA OR =abs:"Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter" OR abs:MOC OR =abs:"Mars Orbiter Camera" OR ((abs:TES OR =abs:"Thermal Emission Spectrometer") NOT (=abs:"Mini-TES" OR =abs:"Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer"))))) NOT (=abs:simulant OR =abs:simulants OR =abs:"thermal energy storage" OR =abs:"MGS-1" OR =abs:"MGS-1S" OR =abs:"MGS-1C")) AND property:refereed AND doctype:article AND pubdate:[1999-04 TO 2040-01] AND NOT bibstem:("A&R" OR "ACPD" OR "AIASJ" OR "AMTD" OR "AeAm" OR "AirSp" OR "AsNow" OR "AsUAI" OR "AvWST" OR "BGD" OR "C&E" OR "C&T" OR "CAPJ" OR "CliPD" OR "E&S" OR "ENews" OR "ESDD" OR "ESSDD" OR "ESuDD" OR "GID" OR "GMDD" OR "GeCAS" OR "HESSD" OR "IrAJ" OR "JCos" OR "JRASC" OR "LAstr" OR "MNSSA" OR "Met" OR "NHESD" OR "NPGD" OR "NewSc" OR "OcScD" OR "Orion" OR "PhT" OR "PhTea" OR "PhuZ" OR "PhyOJ" OR "PhyW" OR "PlR" OR "SOILD" OR "SciAm" OR "SpFl" OR "TCD" OR "ZemVs")

Open in SciX

Added after review (29)

  1. Physical properties of the Mars Exploration Rover landing sites as inferred from Mini-TES-derived thermal inertia Rover thermal inertias at the Mars Exploration Rover landing sites, compared with MGS TES orbital measurements. Decision 🤖
  2. Dust coatings on basaltic rocks and implications for thermal infrared spectroscopy of Mars Laboratory spectra of dust-coated basalt, applied to MGS TES spectra of Radau crater. Decision 🤖
  3. Accuracy of plagioclase compositions from laboratory and Mars spacecraft thermal emission spectra Tests how accurately MGS TES and other thermal spectra recover plagioclase compositions. Decision 🤖
  4. The Global Topography of Mars and Implications for Surface Evolution Global topography of Mars from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter. Decision 🤖
  5. Magnetic Lineations in the Ancient Crust of Mars Magnetic lineations in the ancient Martian crust, mapped by the MGS magnetometer. Decision 🤖
  6. Initial results from radio occultation measurements with Mars Global Surveyor Initial radio occultation results from Mars Global Surveyor. Decision 🤖
  7. Stratigraphy in the Mawrth Vallis region through OMEGA, HRSC color imagery and DTM Mawrth Vallis stratigraphy from orbital data that include Mars Orbiter Camera images. Decision 🤖
  8. An Optimised System for Generating Multi-Resolution Dtms Using NASA Mro Datasets Mars terrain-model processing chain georeferenced to MOLA topography. Decision 🤖
  9. Magnetic Field and Plasma Observations at Mars: Initial Results of the Mars Global Surveyor Mission Initial MGS magnetic field and plasma observations of the near-Mars environment. Decision 🤖
  10. The Structure of the Upper Atmosphere of Mars: In Situ Accelerometer Measurements from Mars Global Surveyor Martian upper-atmosphere structure from MGS accelerometer measurements during aerobraking. Decision 🤖
  11. Early Views of the Martian Surface from the Mars Orbiter Camera of Mars Global Surveyor Early Mars Orbiter Camera images of the Martian surface. Decision 🤖
  12. Topography of the Northern Hemisphere of Mars from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter Northern hemisphere topography from the first Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter profiles. Decision 🤖
  13. Observations of the North Polar Region of Mars from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter North polar observations from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter. Decision 🤖
  14. Results from the Mars Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer First results from the MGS Thermal Emission Spectrometer in Mars orbit. Decision 🤖
  15. Evidence for recent volcanism on Mars from crater counts Evidence for recent Martian volcanism from crater counts on early MGS images. Decision 🤖
  16. Martian cratering VI. Crater count isochrons and evidence for recent volcanism from Mars Global Surveyor Crater-count isochrons and evidence for young volcanism from early MGS images. Decision 🤖
  17. Shape of the northern hemisphere of Mars from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) Shape of the Martian northern hemisphere from early MOLA profiles. Decision 🤖
  18. The relationship between MOLA northern hemisphere topography and the 6.1-Mbar atmospheric pressure surface of Mars Early MOLA topography compared with the Martian 6.1-mbar pressure surface. Decision 🤖
  19. Oceans in the past history of Mars: Tests for their presence using Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) data Tests for ancient Martian oceans using early MOLA data. Decision 🤖
  20. Geometric properties of Martian impact craters: Preliminary results from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter Geometry of Martian impact craters from early MOLA data. Decision 🤖
  21. The MOLA Topographic signature at the crustal dichotomy boundary zone on Mars Early MOLA topography of the Martian crustal dichotomy boundary. Decision 🤖
  22. Mars: Northern hemisphere slopes and slope distributions Northern hemisphere slope distributions from early MOLA profiles. Decision 🤖
  23. Opacity of the Martian atmosphere from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) observations Martian atmospheric opacity from early MOLA observations. Decision 🤖
  24. Vertical roughness of Mars from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter Vertical roughness of the Martian surface from early MOLA pulse widths. Decision 🤖
  25. MGS magnetic fields and electron reflectometer investigation: discovery of paleomagnetic fields due to crustal remanence MGS magnetometer results, including the discovery of remanent crustal magnetic fields. Decision 🤖
  26. Mars global surveyor aerobraking : atmospheric trends and model interpretation Martian atmospheric trends from MGS measurements during the first aerobraking phase. Decision 🤖
  27. Radio wave phase scintillation and precision Doppler tracking of spacecraft Radio scintillation statistics from precision Doppler tracking of MGS and other spacecraft. Decision 🤖
  28. Surface Material and Landscape Characteristics at the Mars Polar Lander Landing Site: A Consideration and Prediction Mars Polar Lander landing-site characteristics from Mars Orbiter Camera images. Decision 🤖
  29. Initial data from the Mars Global Surveyor thermal emission spectrometer experiment: Observations of the Earth MGS Thermal Emission Spectrometer spectra of Earth, taken during the cruise to Mars. Decision 🤖

Removed after review (20)

  1. Introduction to the special section: The Mars Global Surveyor mission Editorial introduction to a journal special section; not a research paper. Decision 🤖
  2. The high-resolution stereo camera (HRSC) experiment on Mars Express: Instrument aspects and experiment conduct from interplanetary cruise through the nominal mission Describes the HRSC camera on Mars Express; mentions MGS imaging and MOLA only for comparison. Decision 🤖
  3. Climate, weather, and north polar observations from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Color Imager Initial results from MRO's Mars Color Imager; mentions MGS only as an earlier record. Decision 👨
  4. Systematic isotopic marking of polymeric components for in-situ space missions Spacecraft contamination-control study; its MOC is molecular organic contamination. Decision 🤖
  5. The NetLander atmospheric instrument system (ATMIS): description and performance assessment Describes the NetLander weather instruments; mentions MGS only as background. Decision 🤖
  6. Miniature thermal emission spectrometer for the Mars Exploration Rover Describes the Mini-TES spectrometer on the Mars Exploration Rovers; mentions MGS TES only as design heritage. Decision 🤖
  7. Reappraisal of chemical interference in anaerobic digestion processes Review of anaerobic digestion chemistry; its TES is a trace element solution. Decision 🤖
  8. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) for the Mars 2001 Odyssey Mission Describes the THEMIS camera on Mars Odyssey; mentions MGS's TES and MOC only as predecessors. Decision 👨
  9. Context Camera Investigation on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Describes MRO's Context Camera; mentions the Mars Orbiter Camera only as operational heritage. Decision 👨
  10. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Radio Science Gravity Investigation Describes MRO's gravity investigation; mentions MGS only as a source of supplementary tracking data. Decision 👨
  11. Mars Exploration Rover Navigation Camera in-flight calibration Calibration of the Mars Exploration Rover navigation cameras; its thermal emission spectrometer is the rover's Mini-TES. Decision 👨
  12. Relative assessment of constrained multiple objective optimization techniques for optimal pumping strategy design to mitigate saline water intrusion in coastal groundwater systems Coastal groundwater study; its MOLA is an optimization algorithm and its MARS a regression model. Decision 🤖
  13. Study on X-ray and electron-excited fluorescence spectroscopy of tungsten using TES: Study on X-ray and electron excited fluorescence spectroscopy... X-ray spectroscopy of tungsten; its TES is a superconducting transition-edge sensor. Decision 🤖
  14. Call for Papers: Special Issue of Earth, Planets and Space (EPS) "Comparative Studies of the Plasma at Non-magnetized Planets/Moons" Call for papers for a journal special issue; not a research paper. Decision 🤖
  15. An introduction—Geophysics: Doing it in space Introduction to a journal special section; not a research paper. Decision 🤖
  16. Introduction to the special section: Mars Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer Editorial introduction to a journal special section; not a research paper. Decision 🤖
  17. Successful Mars remote sensors, MO THEMIS and MER Mini-TES Calibration of the rovers' Mini-TES and Odyssey's THEMIS; mentions MGS TES only as design heritage. Decision 🤖
  18. Compact, passively Q-switched Nd:YAG laser for the MESSENGER mission to Mercury Describes the laser for MESSENGER's Mercury Laser Altimeter; names MGS only as design heritage. Decision 🤖
  19. Scientific objectives of the DYNAMO mission Science objectives of the proposed DYNAMO Mars orbiter; mentions MGS only as a precedent for its orbit. Decision 🤖
  20. STARDUST: implementing a new manage-to-budget paradigm Management account of the Stardust mission; names MGS only as an earlier project it drew on. Decision 🤖