Topography of the South Polar Region from Clementine Stereo Imaging

The Clementine spacecraft made the first near-global topographic map (referenced to a mean lunar radius of 1738 km) of the Moon from laser altimetry (LA). Because the spacecraft was in an elliptical orbit and the laser ranger could not detect returns when the spacecraft was farther than 600 km from the Moon, we do not possess ranging data for latitudes within 15 degrees of the poles. However, the UVVIS imager on Clementine obtained images from different perspectives in space from which stereo information may be derived and topographic models produced. The poles were especially well covered in stereo and we have used images of the south polar area to infer topographic information in areas not sampled by the laser altimeter. We here describe preliminary results in our construction of a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of the south polar area of the Moon.