Vega landing sites: Venera 15/16 unit analogs from Pioneer Venus reflectivity and RMS slope data

Pioneer Venus radar data on surface properties have been used to compare the Vega spacecraft landing sites with the northern 1/4 of Venus mapped by the orbiters Venera 15 and 16. The regions surrounding both landing sites possess surface reflectivity and small‐scale roughness properties most similar to those of mapped volcanoes and volcanic plains regions and different surface properties than those of mapped tectonic units. Regions analogous to the Vega 1 site are relatively rare, covering 2.8% of the mapped surface. Vega 2 analogs are much more common and cover 22.6% of the surface. Neither landing site is representative of the nearby highlands of Aphrodite, but the Vega 2 landing site is similar to much of the northern plains of Venus.