Four Years on Orbit at the Moon with LOLA

After four years of near-continuous operation at the Moon, the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) continues to collect altimetry, surface roughness, slope and normal reflectance data. Although the instrument is beginning to show the effects of tens of thousands of thermal cycles and the natural process of the aging of the laser transmitters, LOLA continues to acquire data on the sunlit portion of every orbit on all 5 laser beams when below 100-km altitude. LOLA has acquired over 6x10^9 altimeter measurements, all geodetically controlled to the center-of-mass of the Moon with a radial precision of around 10 cm and an accuracy of about 1 meter. The position of the measurements on the lunar surface is primarily limited by the knowledge of the position of the spacecraft in orbit; in the last year the LRO orbit accuracy has improved significantly as a result of the availability of an accurate gravity model of the Moon from the GRAIL Discovery mission. Our present estimate of positional accuracy is less than 10 m rms but is only achievable with a GRAIL gravity model to at least degree and order 600 because of the perturbing gravitational effect of the Moon's surface features. Significant improvements in the global shape and topography have assisted the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) stereo mapping program, and the identification of potential lunar landing sites for ESA and Russia, particularly in the high-latitude polar regions where 5- and 10-meter average horizontal resolution has been obtained. LOLA's detailed mapping of the polar regions has improved the delineation of permanently-shadowed areas and assisted in the understanding of the LEND neutron data and its relationship to surface slopes. Recently, a global, calibrated LOLA normal albedo dataset at 1064 nm has been developed and is being combined with analysis and modeling by the Diviner team for the identification of the coldest locations in the polar regions.