![Livio Leonardo Tornabene](/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/2023-01/Livio-Tornabene-400px.jpg?itok=t-pUQtwn)
University of Western Ontario
Impact cratering as a geologic process, Terrestrial geology (including Earth, Mars and Moon, emphasis on Mars, Remote Sensing (expertise in VNIR imaging, and both multi- and hyper-spectral VNIR and TIR spectroscopy), Mission operations/training.
Over 21 years in on-going mission experience: Official team member of 2006 MRO/HiRISE and Co-Investigator on 2016 ExoMars-TGO/CaSSIS and 2028 ExoMars Rover/PanCam
Previous missions: MODY/THEMIS, MER/Spirit, LRO/LROC
Location: London, ON (closest to Detroit, MI airport). US-based: Pompano Beach, Florida
Education: PhD. in Geology/Earth & Planetary Sciences, University of Tennessee - Knoxville
Research Interests:
Multispectral applications of TGO/CaSSIS data including co-analysis with MRO/CRISM applied to various investigations into the composition and geologic history of the surface of Mars, including:
- A multi-dataset characterization of altered and unaltered surfaces in the Libya Montes and Tyrrhena Terra regions of Mars (Study with Janice Bishop)
Investigations into the origins of the clay-bearing units in:
- NW Noachis Terra, including Her Desher/Nirgal Vallis
- The Oxia Planum landing site for the 2028 ExoMars Rover
- Multi- and hyperspectral VNIR characteristics of water-ice on Mars with emphasis on multispectral detection of water-ice with both HiRISE and CaSSIS
- Central uplift morphology and composition: what do they tell us about the impact process and the interior and history of Mars?
- ... Megabreccias on Mars
The role of impact cratering in creating and shaping planetary surfaces, including:
- Aqueous alteration of surfaces due to impacts into volatile-rich targets (Earth, Mars some Dwarf planets)
- Ejecta emplacement and the extent of landscape modification due to impact cratering
- How impact cratering may have contributed to the topography of Terrestrial bodies (e.g., hemispherical crustal dichotomy on Mars)