Ross A. Beyer

Ross is currently a Principal Investigator and Research Scientist with the Carl Sagan Center at the SETI Institute. He carries out his research in the Space Science and Astrobiology Division (Planetary Systems Branch, SST) and the Intelligent Robotics Group (part of the Intelligent Systems Division, TI) at the NASA Ames Research Center. He studies surface geomorphology, surface processes, remote sensing and photogrammetry of the solid bodies in our Solar System—if you can stand on it, he's interested in what it's like and how it got that way.

Ross works on planetary surface studies. He has performed geophysical modeling of diapirism on Mars and other terrestrial planets. He works on ways to quantitatively analyze the meter-scale topography and surface roughness of planetary surfaces via remote sensing. This work has been used to help plan landing sites on Mars. Ross has worked to gain a better understanding of the stratigraphy and layering on Mars, particularly in the slopes of the chasmata and the interior mesas in order to learn more about the geologic history of Mars. Ross has also worked with images from Pluto and Charon to better understand their geology and tectonic history.