High Resolution Maps of the Moon Surface with AMIE/SMART-1
Abstract
The Advanced Moon micro-Imager Experiment (AMIE) on board the ESA lunar mission Smart-1 has performed colour imaging of the lunar surface using various filters in the visible and NIR range. This micro-camera provided high resolution images of selected parts of the lunar surface, including the North and South pole areas. Being give that the SMART-1 mission was in a 300km x 300km orbit with perilune over the South pole, the coverage between the North and the South regions is different.
The AMIE images were obtained using a tele-objective with 5.3° x 5.3° field of view and a sensor of 1024 x 1024 pixels. The output images have resolution 45m/pixel at 500km, and are encoded with 10 bits/pixel. The data for the North pole were obtained at a much higher altitude than the South pole data. From the 300 Km pericenter altitude, the same field of view corresponds to a spatial resolution about 27 m/pixel. The high resolution imaging of the Moon surface makes possible detailed analysis of the morphological features and physical characteristics of the lunar surface. In order to construct AMIE data maps, systematic analysis and processing is being carried on using the whole data set. Geometrical analysis of AMIE images relies on the SPICE system: image coordinates are computed to get precise projection at the surface, and illumination angles are computed to analyze the photometric sequences. Using this method, high resolution mosaics were constructed then compared to lower resolution Clementine UV-Vis and NIR images. Maps of both North and South pole were obtained as well as other regions of interest. Eventually, this method will be applied in all areas where AMIE has provided high resolution observations of the surface, typically a factor of 3 higher than the Clementine UV-Vis camera. New results will be presented at the conference.- Publication:
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AAS/Division for Planetary Sciences Meeting Abstracts #40
- Pub Date:
- September 2008
- Bibcode:
- 2008DPS....40.1301D