Abstract: A number of exploration missions to Mars and the Moon have led to a certain understanding of the commonalities and differences between the topography of the planets. Since the topography of the two is different from that of the Earth’s surface, a targeted visualization method should be adopted for their visualization to match their respective landform types and surface color systems, which will facilitate planet mapping and planet exploration. The paper compares the similar landforms about surface topography of the Moon and Mars, especially impact craters, ridges and grooves, which are different from the Earth’s landforms, and visualize them through human-eye suitable visible light color and highlight landform characters to realize the enhanced visualization in accordance with the surface topography of the Moon and Mars, which will enable map users to quickly grasp topographic and geomorphological information, and facilitate further deep space exploration research and public science popularization.

Key words: planetary cartography, Mars exploration, topographic comparison, relief shading, visualization