This project is a Data Management and Visualization course assignment. All sources were made available by Wesleyan University on Coursera and were created on the basis of Planetary Surface Properties, Cratering Physics, and the Volcanic History of Mars from a New Global Martian Crater Database by Stuart James Robbins:
- Mars Craters Study – the codebook with introduction to subject, variables description and examples
- .csv data file
Topic of Interest
The data set provides information about 378,540 craters on Mars which can help us understand what major events, like bombardments, impacts, took place on this planet. The main question I would like to put is: Is the location of the crater associated with its type/main ejecta characteristics? Are the craters with particular ejecta morphology concentrated in one region or are they diffused and is their position random? Is their existence a sign of particular historical event or does the ejecta morphology depend on local surface type?
The secondary topic of interest I would like to explore is: Is the ejecta morphology associated with diameter and depth of the crater? In other words, is the type of the crater correlated with is size?
Codebook
In my personal codebook I would like to use variables which describe geographic location of the crater (CRATER_ID, LATITUDE_CIRCLE_IMAGE, LONGITUDE_CIRCLE_IMAGE) and variables which describe the crater itself (DIAM_CIRCLE_IMAGE, DEPTH_RIMFLOOR_TOPOG, MORPHOLOGY_EJECTA_1, MORPHOLOGY_EJECTA_2).
Hypotheses
Particular types of craters (variables MORPHOLOGY_EJECTA_1, MORPHOLOGY_EJECTA_2) are placed in specific regions of the planet (variables LATITUDE_CIRCLE_IMAGE, LONGITUDE_CIRCLE_IMAGE). There are studies which show such a correlation with the type of surface, for example: ‘a latitude dependence on the distribution of ice and/or
water may explain the occurrence or absence of particular ejecta morphologies’ (1). There are some particular types of craters which latitudinal location dependence was proved: ‘SLE morphologies dominate across the entire ±60° latitude zone. […] DLE morphologies are primarily concentrated in the northern plains regions of Mars, especially between 35°N and 60°N’ (2).
Particular types of craters (variables MORPHOLOGY_EJECTA_1, MORPHOLOGY_EJECTA_2) are associated with diameter and depth (DIAM_CIRCLE_IMAGE, DEPTH_RIMFLOOR_TOPOG). Studies show that such correlation exists: ‘All the ejecta and almost all the interior morphologies studied here show a relationship with crater diameter. This correlation actually reflects the greater depth of excavation associated with larger craters’ (*1).
Literature
Below articles were found on Google Scholar with following key phrases: ‘mars craters diameter’, ‘mars craters distribution’.
PyAga: Everything about Python & Data Analysis 
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