A (Fantasy) Martian Hex Atlas

41 hexmaps depicting a fantasy version of Mars with oceans & a breathable atmosphere.

Details

The base terrain data come from NASA's Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (see below). ExoPlaSim was used to simulate a plausible climate profile, to which considerable artistic license was applied. In keeping with its portrayal in the imaginary worlds of Burroughs, Brackett, & Bradbury (among others), this version of Mars is predominantly a cold desert.

• Snow/ice cover (visualized in white) was allocated based on ExoPlaSim snow depth predictions, annual mean temperature, & elevation.
• Vegetation cover (visualized as a green tint) was assigned based on annual mean precipitation, topographic flow accumulation, elevation, & mean annual temperature. No attempt has been made to specify what type of vegetation is represented.
• Simulated precipitation was too low to generate mappable rivers & streams via my usual methods -- this is close to the desiccated world imagined by Lowell & others.

I opted to use approx. 12-mile hexes due to the large surface area (315,000 hexes across all maps), but may upload a 6-mile set if there's interest. Since most habitable areas are near the equator, all maps use the IAU Mars Equirectangular projection.

License

The Martian terrain data comes from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) & High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC):

Fergason, R. L, Hare, T. M., & Laura, J. (2018). HRSC and MOLA Blended Digital Elevation Model at 200m v2. Astrogeology PDS Annex, U.S. Geological Survey. https://astrogeology.usgs.gov/search/map/mars_mgs_mola_mex_hrsc_blended_dem_global_200m

Feel free to use these maps for whatever you want, but please credit MOLA, HRSC, and myself.