DOCSLIB.ORG

Lunar Topographic Roughness Maps from Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) Data: Scale Dependence and Correlation with Geologic Features and Units ⇑ Mikhail A

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Lunar Topographic Roughness Maps from Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) Data: Scale Dependence and Correlation with Geologic Features and Units ⇑ Mikhail A Icarus 226 (2013) 52–66 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Icarus journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/icarus Lunar topographic roughness maps from Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) data: Scale dependence and correlation with geologic features and units ⇑ Mikhail A. Kreslavsky a, , James W. Head b, Gregory A. Neumann c, Margaret A. Rosenburg d, Oded Aharonson e, David E. Smith f, Maria T. Zuber f a Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA b Department of Geological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA c Solar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA d Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, Caltech, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA e Center for Planetary Science, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 76100, Israel f Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA article info abstract Article history: We present maps of the topographic roughness of the Moon at hectometer and kilometer scales. The Received 2 November 2012 maps are derived from range profiles obtained by the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) instrument Revised 8 March 2013 onboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft. As roughness measures, we used the inter- Accepted 20 April 2013 quartile range of profile curvature at several baselines, from 115 m to 1.8 km, and plotted these in a glo- Available online 3 May 2013 bal map format. The maps provide a synoptic overview of variations of typical topographic textures and utilize the exceptional ranging precision of the LOLA instrument. We found that hectometer-scale rough- Keywords: ness poorly correlates with kilometer-scale roughness, because they reflect different sets of processes and Moon, surface time scales. Hectometer-scale roughness is controlled by regolith accumulation and modification pro- Regoliths Data reduction techniques cesses and affected by the most recent events, primarily, geologically recent (1–2 Ga) meteoritic impacts. Geological processes Kilometer-scale roughness reflects major geological (impact, volcanic and tectonic) events in earlier geo- logical history. Young large impact craters are rough, and their roughness decreases with age. The global roughness maps revealed a few unusually dense clusters of hectometer- and decameter-size impact cra- ters that differ in their morphology and settings from typical secondary crater clusters and chains; the origin of these features is enigmatic. The maps can assist in the geological mapping of the lunar maria by revealing contacts between volcanic plain units. The global roughness maps also clearly reveal cryp- tomaria, old volcanic plains superposed by younger materials, primarily crater and basin ejecta. Ó 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction and inconvenient. Roughness maps give a generalized overview of texture variations at large scale. Laser altimeter instruments onboard orbital planetary missions Second, roughness maps help to focus on typical topography rather significantly advanced our knowledge of the Moon, Mars, Mercury. than on peculiar features. When we look at topographic maps and Topographic maps derived from the laser altimeter data are widely images, our eyes see the most prominent features and often miss back- used in geological studies. In addition to the topographic maps, ground textures. For example, when we look at the lunar highlands, we synoptic maps of topographic roughness can be useful. There are see the distinctive impact craters, and it is very difficult to ignore craters a few reasons, why in some circumstances the use of roughness and focus on intercrater textures. Properly designed roughness maps maps is essential for geologic studies. display the most typical topographic textures and ignore rare features. First, roughness maps provide a convenient large-scale over- Finally, roughness maps utilize the exceptional internal preci- view of small-scale textures. To map regional variations of textures sion of laser altimeter data. The precision of the range determina- solely with topographic maps, a geologist constantly needs to tion along each spacecraft orbit is much higher than the accuracy switch from large scale to small scales, which is time-consuming of orbit knowledge, and the accuracy of the topographic maps is much worse than the internal precision of the original measure- ⇑ Corresponding author. Address: Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of ments. In addition, the gaps between orbit tracks are often wider California–Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA. Fax: +1 831 459 than the distance between elevation measurements along the or- 3074. bit, and the effective resolution of the topographic maps is worse E-mail address: [email protected] (M.A. Kreslavsky). 0019-1035/$ - see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2013.04.027 M.A. Kreslavsky et al. / Icarus 226 (2013) 52–66 53 than measurement spacing along each orbit track. Roughness maps 0.8 km, however, the distance varies widely, and there are gaps rely on and utilize the exceptional internal precision and available as wide as 4 km. along-orbit spacing of the orbital laser altimeter data. Topographic roughness depends on spatial scale; this depen- Roughness maps have proven to be useful in planetary geology. dence bears essential information, as we will see later in the paper. Kilometer-scale topographic roughness maps of Mars (Kreslavsky To characterize it, we map roughness for a set of baselines l. Con- and Head, 2000) generated with Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter secutive shots along each orbit are separated by 57.4 m; this dis- (MOLA) data (Smith et al., 2001) clearly showed many geomorpho- tance is conveniently constant within ±3% through the whole logic units on Mars, for example, patches of heavily cratered Noa- data set. Our roughness measure uses baselines with an even num- chian-age volcanic plains are well distinguished from surrounding ber of shot-to-shot steps. Thus, the shortest baseline we can use is heavily cratered highlands. The maps revealed a latitudinal trend 2 shot-to-shot steps, that is l = 115 m. In addition to this, we also in topographic roughness, which was important in understanding present maps of roughness at baselines of 8, 16, and 32 shot-to- the nature of recent climate change on Mars (Head et al., 2003). shot steps, that is l = 0.46 km, 0.92 km, and 1.8 km. Cord et al. (2007) used stereo-derived digital elevation models to For each shot, we calculated a proxy for the second derivative make decameter- and hectometer-scale roughness maps of some (‘‘curvature’’), c, of along-orbit topographic profiles, according to martian terrains. the equation: Kreslavsky (2010) produced maps of topographic roughness of 2 the Moon using data from laser altimeter LALT onboard Kaguya c ¼ðhþ þ hÀ À 2hÞ=l ; ð1Þ mission (Araki et al., 2008, 2009). These maps revealed the unique- ness of Orientale basin ejecta (Hevelius Formation) in comparison where h, h+, and hÀ are surface elevations at the given laser shot, to other impact basin ejecta deposits on the Moon. The use of LALT and shots a half-baseline ahead and a half-baseline behind, respec- data, however, is limited because of long distances between mea- tively. If any of h, h+, and hÀ were missing or marked as bad in the surements along the orbit and a small total amount of data. LOLA data set, we discarded such a curvature value. In total, about Due to its exceptional vertical precision, short along-orbit spac- 6% of data points were discarded in this way. For l in (1) we used ing, and large volume of data, the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter actual horizontal distance between the shot locations at h+, and (LOLA) (Smith et al., 2010a,b) onboard LRO is an excellent data hÀ. As we noted above, its difference between this actual distance source for roughness mapping. The first roughness maps of the and the ‘‘nominal’’ baseline of 115 m, 0.46 km, 0.92 km, and Moon with LOLA data were produced by Rosenburg et al. (2011). 1.8 km does not exceed 3% and causes no bias. Kreslavsky and Head (2012) used LOLA-derived roughness maps We built the global maps in different map projections; nomi- to analyze the uniqueness of the Hevelius Formation roughness nally, we used the scale that correspond to 8 pixels per degree signature. Whitten et al. (2012) use LOLA-derived roughness maps sampling, in other words, 3.8  3.8 km2 pixel size at the projec- in their analysis of cryptomaria. tion’s standard point or line. For each map pixel, we found all LOLA In this paper we (1) consider the technique of roughness map- shots located within the distance R from the center of the pixel. p pix ping with LOLA data, (2) discuss the rationale for our choice of the The minimal reasonable Rpix is 2/2 of the nominal pixel side: for statistical measure of roughness, (3) present global roughness shorter Rpix some data would be unused. We used this minimal maps of the Moon, (4) analyze the appearance of major geological Rpix = 2.7 km for all maps, except the longest baseline of features in these maps, and (5) discuss primary inferences about l = 1.8 km, for which we used Rpix = 3.8 km. For the minimal Rpix surface-shaping and modifying processes. the majority of shots belong only to one pixel, but some of them belong to 2 pixels. Typically, 2–8 orbits contribute to a pixel (ex- cept high latitudes); each orbit typically adds a few tens of data 2. Mapping roughness points. Some pixels (1%, depending on the map projection used) have no data. We also considered pixels having too few points (less In this section we first describe the algorithm we used to pro- than 20) as having no data.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Lunar Sourcebook : a User's Guide to the Moon
    4 LUNAR SURFACE PROCESSES Friedrich Hörz, Richard Grieve, Grant Heiken, Paul Spudis, and Alan Binder The Moon’s surface is not affected by atmosphere, encounters with each other and with larger planets water, or life, the three major agents for altering throughout the lifetime of the solar system. These terrestrial surfaces. In addition, the lunar surface has orbital alterations are generally minor, but they not been shaped by recent geological activity, because ensure that, over geological periods, collisions with the lunar crust and mantle have been relatively cold other bodies will occur. and rigid throughout most of geological time. When such a collision happens, two outcomes are Convective internal mass transport, which dominates possible. If “target” and “projectile” are of comparable the dynamic Earth, is therefore largely absent on the size, collisional fragmentation and annihilation Moon, and so are the geological effects of such occurs, producing a large number of much smaller internal motions—volcanism, uplift, faulting, and fragments. If the target object is very large compared subduction—that both create and destroy surfaces on to the projectile, it behaves as an “infinite halfspace,” Earth. The great contrast between the ancient, stable and the result is an impact crater in the target body. Moon and the active, dynamic Earth is most clearly For collisions in the asteroid belt, many of the shown by the ages of their surfaces. Nearly 80% of the resulting collisional fragments or crater ejecta escape entire solid surface of Earth is <200 m.y. old. In the gravitational field of the impacted object; many of contrast, >99% of the lunar surface formed more than these fragments are then further perturbed into 3 b.y.
    [Show full text]
  • Lunar Nautics: Designing a Mission to Live and Work on the Moon
    National Aeronautics and Space Administration Lunar Nautics: Designing a Mission to Live and Work on the Moon An Educator’s Guide for Grades 6–8 Educational Product Educator’s Grades 6–8 & Students EG-2008-09-129-MSFC i ii Lunar Nautics Table of Contents About This Guide . 1 Sample Agendas . 4 Master Supply List . 10 Survivor: SELENE “The Lunar Edition” . 22 The Never Ending Quest . 23 Moon Match . 25 Can We Take it With Us? . 27 Lunar Nautics Trivia Challenge . 29 Lunar Nautics Space Systems, Inc. ................................................. 31 Introduction to Lunar Nautics Space Systems, Inc . 32 The Lunar Nautics Proposal Process . 34 Lunar Nautics Proposal, Design and Budget Notes . 35 Destination Determination . 37 Design a Lunar Lander . .38 Science Instruments . 40 Lunar Exploration Science . 41 Design a Lunar Miner/Rover . 47 Lunar Miner 3-Dimensional Model . 49 Design a Lunar Base . 50 Lunar Base 3-Dimensional Model . 52 Mission Patch Design . 53 Lunar Nautics Presentation . 55 Lunar Exploration . 57 The Moon . 58 Lunar Geology . 59 Mining and Manufacturing on the Moon . 63 Investigate the Geography and Geology of the Moon . 70 Strange New Moon . 72 Digital Imagery . 74 Impact Craters . 76 Lunar Core Sample . 79 Edible Rock Abrasion Tool . 81 i Lunar Missions ..................................................................83 Recap: Apollo . 84 Stepping Stone to Mars . 88 Investigate Lunar Missions . 90 The Pioneer Missions . 92 Edible Pioneer 3 Spacecraft . .96 The Clementine Mission . .98 Edible Clementine Spacecraft . .99 Lunar Rover . 100 Edible Lunar Rover . 101 Lunar Prospector . 103 Edible Lunar Prospector Spacecraft . 107 Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter . 109 Robots Versus Humans . 11. 1 The Definition of a Robot .
    [Show full text]
  • Bulk Mineralogy of Lunar Crater Central Peaks Via Thermal Infrared Spectra from the Diviner Lunar Radiometer - a Study of the Moon’S Crustal Composition at Depth
    Bulk mineralogy of Lunar crater central peaks via thermal infrared spectra from the Diviner Lunar Radiometer - A study of the Moon’s crustal composition at depth Eugenie Song A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Sciences University of Washington 2012 Committee: Joshua Bandfield Alan Gillespie Bruce Nelson Program Authorized to Offer Degree: Earth and Space Sciences 1 Table of Contents List of Figures ............................................................................................................................................... 3 List of Tables ................................................................................................................................................ 3 Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................... 4 1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 5 1.1 Formation of the Lunar Crust ................................................................................................... 5 1.2 Crater Morphology ................................................................................................................... 7 1.3 Spectral Features of Rock-Forming Silicates in the Lunar Environment ................................ 8 1.4 Compositional Studies of Lunar Crater Central Peaks ...........................................................
    [Show full text]
  • A New Look at Copernican and Eratosthenian Crater Populations on the Moon L
    A New Look at Copernican and Eratosthenian Crater Populations on the Moon L. R. Ostrach1, N. E. Petro1, C. I. Fassett2, J. L. Whitten3, B. W. Denevi4, B. T. Greenhagen4, and L. M. Carter1 Abst. 1NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. 2Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA. 3Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 4Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD. (contact: [email protected]) 2099 Motivation Identifying and characterizing young impact crater populations is key Distribution of named impact to improving the understanding of the recent geological history of the Moon, as well craters ≥10 km in diameter as the rate at which impact craters degrade and the lunar regolith evolves. Investigat- and assigned a Copernican or ing impact craters from the two youngest lunar geological epochs (the Copernican Eratosthenian chronostrati- and Eratosthenian) with recently acquired lunar mission data enables re-assessment graphic age [1,3-5] included of the accepted age classification scheme for these crater populations [1,2]. In ad- in our assessment. Stars are examples shown below. dition, the higher resolution and increased geographic coverage of recent datasets enables craters to be classified to smaller diameters than previously possible, thus improving local stratigraphic assessments and characterization of these young crater Basemap is LROC WAC 643 nm populations on the Moon. Here, we present a progress report on our efforts to date. normalized reflectance [6]. Four Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter datasets used are highlighted in this poster. JLRO WAC morphology mosaic [7] facilitates observations of crater morphology (e.g., presence of impact melt). JLRO WAC 643 nm normalized reflectance mosaic [6] enables observations of variations in surface reflectance and is particularly useful for identifying and mapping crater ejecta rays.
    [Show full text]
  • Suggestion That Recent (≤ 3 Ga) Flux of Kilometer and Larger Impactors in the Earth-Moon System Has Not Been Constant
    Icarus 355 (2021) 114110 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Icarus journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/icarus Research Paper Suggestion that recent (≤ 3 Ga) flux of kilometer and larger impactors in the Earth-Moon system has not been constant Michelle R. Kirchoff *, Simone Marchi, William F. Bottke, Clark R. Chapman, Brian Enke Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Keywords: Lunar impact crater chronologies have been developed by combining carefully measured crater densities of lunar Cratering terrains with radiometric ages provided by returned samples. However, due to the sparse coverage of the samples Lunar Chronology during the last three billion years, this part of the chronologies is not well constrained. Lunar crater chronologies Moon generally assume that the bombardment rate has been relatively constant during this epoch for all impactor sizes. Surface Nevertheless, evidence has been gathering that this may not be the case for impactors larger than several Asteroids Dynamics hundred meters; however, there may be biases related to some of this evidence. The break-up of large asteroids in Impact flux the Main Asteroid Belt to make asteroid families could be a source of a changing impact flux in the Earth-Moon system, especially when the families form near strong orbital resonances with the gas giants. In order to further explore the state of the impact flux from today to three billion years ago for impactors larger than ~5 km, we calculate crater retention model ages of 43 lunar craters 50 km and larger in diameter (D). Selected craters were initially suggested by United States Geological Survey geological maps of the Moon and Wilhems (1987) to have formed during the Copernican and Eratosthenian.
    [Show full text]
  • The National Bureau of Standards Becomes the National
    CHAPTER TWO BRIGHT PROSPECTS FOR NBS (August 1969—May 1972) It was a terrible year for America, 1968, but one of great expectations for the National Bureau of Standards. The paradoxical existence of an optimistic attitude among the staff of NBS—arising in the midst of a mordant pessimism for the future of their country among the American public—had its resolution in the anticipation of vigorous new leadership for the Bureau. True, the NBS budget was confining; it was necessary for many a manager to seek fundingfrom sources outside of Congress in order to reach for new programs or, sometimes, to support existing ones. Also true, the state of the scientific equipment was precarious in many a Bureau laboratory. But the staff was strong, the laboratories themselves were modern, and the reputation of NBS for integrity and scientific capability was secure. Allen Astin had left a fine legacy. The Bureau staff could not anticipate all the changes that were in store for their agency, although the signs were there to be seen. Public support of the scientific establishment was declining; the decrease was felt most keenly among those involved in fundamental studies. In response to that decline, there was a rising insistence on "relevance," the ability tO justify projects in terms of immediate public benefits. Continually growing was the number of large programs created to address the troubles of a beleaguered American industry. The one change that was obvious was that Allen Astin was stepping down from his post of 17 years. The prospect that a vigorous new leader could magnify the gains achieved under Astin was exciting.
    [Show full text]
  • Science Hybrid Orbiter and Lunar Relay (SCHOLR) Architecture and Design
    https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20110014981 2019-08-30T17:06:35+00:00Z NASA/TM—2011-216894 AIAA–2010–813610 SCience Hybrid Orbiter and Lunar Relay (SCHOLR) Architecture and Design Kathryn K. Trase, Rachel A. Barch, Ryan E. Chaney, Rachel A. Coulter, Hui Gao, David P. Huynh, Nicholas A. Iaconis, Todd S. MacMillan, Gregory M. Pitner, and Devin T. Schwab Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio July 2011 NASA STI Program . in Profile Since its founding, NASA has been dedicated to the • CONFERENCE PUBLICATION. Collected advancement of aeronautics and space science. The papers from scientific and technical NASA Scientific and Technical Information (STI) conferences, symposia, seminars, or other program plays a key part in helping NASA maintain meetings sponsored or cosponsored by NASA. this important role. • SPECIAL PUBLICATION. Scientific, The NASA STI Program operates under the auspices technical, or historical information from of the Agency Chief Information Officer. It collects, NASA programs, projects, and missions, often organizes, provides for archiving, and disseminates concerned with subjects having substantial NASA’s STI. The NASA STI program provides access public interest. to the NASA Aeronautics and Space Database and its public interface, the NASA Technical Reports • TECHNICAL TRANSLATION. English- Server, thus providing one of the largest collections language translations of foreign scientific and of aeronautical and space science STI in the world. technical material pertinent to NASA’s mission. Results are published in both non-NASA channels and by NASA in the NASA STI Report Series, which Specialized services also include creating custom includes the following report types: thesauri, building customized databases, organizing and publishing research results.
    [Show full text]
  • The Composition of the Lunar Crust: an In-Depth Remote Sensing View
    THE COMPOSITION OF THE LUNAR CRUST: AN IN-DEPTH REMOTE SENSING VIEW A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAIʻI AT MĀNOA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN GEOLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS August 2016 By Myriam Lemelin Dissertation Committee: Paul G. Lucey, Chairperson G. Jeffrey Taylor Jeffrey J. Gillis-Davis Peter Englert Karen Meech Keywords: Moon; Remote sensing; Spectroscopy; Lunar crust; Central peak; Basin ring ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Five years ago I was working at the Lunar and Planetary Institute with amazing colleagues such as Carolyn Eve, David Blair, Kirby Runyon, Stephanie Quintana and Sarah Crites. We were discussing our future on our way back home from work, stopping to see the alligators and armadillos on the way, and they asked me what I wanted do next. If I could do anything, what would it be? I wanted to do a PhD in Hawaii with Paul Lucey. I feel very privileged that it happened, as it has been such a marking moment in my life, both from a science and a personnel perspective. I want to thank many people who contributed in making this experience incredible. I want to thank my advisor, Paul Lucey, for his endless creative ideas, his impressive knowledge and for allowing me to take part in many science meetings and conferences where I learned so much about various aspects of planetary sciences, and where I met numerous space enthusiast scientists. I want to thank my dissertation committee members, Jeff Taylor, Jeff Gillis-Davis, Peter Englert, and Karen Meech for their suggestions and comments.
    [Show full text]
  • Velocity Impact Craters in Ice and Ice&Hyphen
    VOL. 84, NO. B14 JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH DECEMBER 30, 1979 Low-Velocity Impact Craters in Ice and Ice-Saturated Sand With Implications for Martian Crater Count Ages S. K. CROFT Departmentof Earth and SpaceSciences, University of California,Los Angeles,California 90024 S. W. KIEFFER U.S. GeologicalSurvey, Flagstaff,,Arizona 86001 T. J. AHRENS Divisionof Geologicaland PlanetarySciences, California Institute of Technology,Pasadena, California 91125 We produced a seriesof decimeter-sizedimpact craters in blocks of ice near 0øC and -70øC and in ice-saturatedsand near -70øC as a preliminary investigationof crateringin materialsanalogous to those found on Mars and the outer solar systemsatellites. The projectilesused were standard0.22 and 0.30 cal- iber bulletsfired at velocitiesbetween 0.3 and 1.5 km/s, with kineticenergies at impactbetween 109 and 4 x 10•ø ergs. Crater diameters in the ice-saturatedsand were -•2 timeslarger than cratersin the same energy and velocity range in competentblocks of granite, basalt and cement.Craters in ice were -•3 times larger. If this dependenceof crater size on strengthpersists to large hypervelocityimpact craters,then surfacesof geologicunits composedof ice or ice-saturatedsoil would have greatercrater count ages than rocky surfaceswith identical influx histories.The magnitudeof the correctionto crater countsrequired by this strengtheffect is comparableto the magnitudesof correctionsrequired by variations in impact velocity and surfacegravity usedin determining relative interplanetary chronologies.The relative sizesof cratersin ice and ice-saturatedsand imply that the tensile strengthof ice-saturatedsand is a strong in- verse function of temperature.If this is true, then Martian impact crater energy versusdiameter scaling may also be a function of latitude.
    [Show full text]
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration) 111 P HC AO,6/MF A01 Unclas CSCL 03B G3/91 49797
    https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19780004017 2020-03-22T06:42:54+00:00Z NASA TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM NASA TM-75035 THE LUNAR NOMENCLATURE: THE REVERSE SIDE OF THE MOON (1961-1973) (NASA-TM-75035) THE LUNAR NOMENCLATURE: N78-11960 THE REVERSE SIDE OF TEE MOON (1961-1973) (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) 111 p HC AO,6/MF A01 Unclas CSCL 03B G3/91 49797 K. Shingareva, G. Burba Translation of "Lunnaya Nomenklatura; Obratnaya storona luny 1961-1973", Academy of Sciences USSR, Institute of Space Research, Moscow, "Nauka" Press, 1977, pp. 1-56 NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION M19-rz" WASHINGTON, D. C. 20546 AUGUST 1977 A % STANDARD TITLE PAGE -A R.,ott No0... r 2. Government Accession No. 31 Recipient's Caafog No. NASA TIM-75O35 4.-"irl. and Subtitie 5. Repo;t Dote THE LUNAR NOMENCLATURE: THE REVERSE SIDE OF THE August 1977 MOON (1961-1973) 6. Performing Organization Code 7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organizotion Report No. K,.Shingareva, G'. .Burba o 10. Coit Un t No. 9. Perlform:ng Organization Nome and Address ]I. Contract or Grant .SCITRAN NASw-92791 No. Box 5456 13. T yp of Report end Period Coered Santa Barbara, CA 93108 Translation 12. Sponsoring Agiicy Noms ond Address' Natidnal Aeronautics and Space Administration 34. Sponsoring Agency Code Washington,'.D.C. 20546 15. Supplamortary No9 Translation of "Lunnaya Nomenklatura; Obratnaya storona luny 1961-1973"; Academy of Sciences USSR, Institute of Space Research, Moscow, "Nauka" Press, 1977, pp. Pp- 1-56 16. Abstroct The history of naming the details' of the relief on.the near and reverse sides 6f .
    [Show full text]
  • Number of Near-Earth Objects and Formation of Lunar Craters Over the Last Billion Years
    Number of Near-Earth Objects and Formation of Lunar Craters over the Last Billion Years S. I. Ipatova, *, E. A. Feoktistovab, and V. V. Svettsovc aVernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119991 Russia bSternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow State University, Moscow, 119992 Russia cInstitute of Geosphere Dynamics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119334 Russia *е-mail: [email protected] Received June 13, 2019; revised March 6, 2020; accepted March 18, 2020 Solar System Research, 2020, Vol. 54, No. 5, pp. 384–404. Abstract—We compare the number of lunar craters larger than 15 km across and younger than 1.1 Ga to the estimates of the number of craters that could have been formed for 1.1 Ga if the number of near-Earth objects and their orbital elements during that time were close to the corresponding current values. The comparison was performed for craters over the entire lunar surface and in the region of the Oceanus Procellarum and maria on the near side of the Moon. In these estimates, we used the values of collision probabilities of near- Earth objects with the Moon and the dependences of the crater diameters on the impactor sizes. According to the estimates made by different authors, the number density of known Copernican craters with diameters D≥15 km in mare regions is at least double the corresponding number for the remaining lunar surface. Our estimates do not contradict the growth in the number of near-Earth objects after probable catastrophic fragmentations of large main-belt asteroids, which may have occurred over the recent 300 Ma; however, they do not prove this increase.
    [Show full text]
  • Mini-RF S-Band Observation of Ohm and Stevinus Craters Using Circular Polarization Ratio and M-Chi Decomposition Techniques
    J. Earth Syst. Sci. (2020) 129:105 Ó Indian Academy of Sciences https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-020-1370-8 (0123456789().,-volV)(0123456789().,-volV) Mini-RF S-band observation of Ohm and Stevinus craters using circular polarization ratio and m-chi decomposition techniques 1, 1,2 1 ASHKA DTHAKER *, SHREEKUMARI MPATEL and PARAS MSOLANKI 1Department of Geology, M.G. Science Institute, Ahmedabad 380 009, India. 2Research Scholar, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad 380 009, India. *Corresponding author. e-mail: [email protected] MS received 5 August 2019; revised 13 January 2020; accepted 19 January 2020 The aim of the study was to observe two lunar impact craters of Copernican age, Ohm (18.4°N, 113.5°W) and Stevinus (32.5°S, 54.2°E) under microwave radar data of Miniature Radio Frequency (Mini-RF), an instrument onboard Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) of NASA, where Ohm is located on the far side of the Moon and Stevinus is situated on the near side of the Moon. We have analyzed the characters of impact ejecta melt of both the craters in radar data which are not evidently distinguished in the high resolution optical data of narrow angle camera (NAC) and wide angle camera (WAC) of LRO mission. Circular polarization ratio (CPR) and m-chi decomposition images were developed using ENVI and ArcGIS software which were used to understand surface roughness and backscattering properties of Ohm and Stevinus craters. Both the craters evidently have high CPR values indicating either exposure of fresh material or elevated surface roughness due to surface geometry. The m-chi decomposition of Ohm and Stevinus craters shows dominant yellowish hue suggesting a backscatter combination of double-bounce (db) scattering and volume scattering (vs) in contrast to the surrounding terrain which shows Bragg scattering (bs) according to the 7-fold classiBcation colour-wheel.
    [Show full text]