A Gemini mosaic along the thirty-second degree of latitude from Baja California to central Texas

Abstract

A series of 39 overlapping photographs of the southwestern United States and adjacent areas of Mexico was obtained as part of an experiment of the Gemini IV mission. Twenty-four of these pictures plus one from the Gemini III and four from the Gemini V mission were used to construct a 1:1,000,000-scale, black and white, semi-controlled mosaic. This mosaic covers about 150,000 square miles and extends along the 32d parallel of north latitude from the Pacific Ocean to the 100th meridian in west-central Texas, and averages about 150 miles in width. Many of the individual rectified photographs can be enlarged to a scale of 1:250,000 with little or no loss of resolution; such enlargements will be of great value to earth resources studies. If the angle of tilt is more than 35 degrees, some detail in the background of the photograph is lost. The U. S. Geological Survey is currently conducting several small research projects in which this 1:1,000,000-scale mosaic and the individual photographs are the prime research tools.