Utilizing Virtual Reality Field Studies to Enable Analog Research of Planetary Surfaces

Virtual Reality (VR) is being recognized as a major new technology capability with a broad range of applications, including planetary surface science and exploration. Here we present our work integrating field measurements and LiDAR data with VR environments to demonstrate the benefits of utilizing VR technology to enable simulated human exploration of planetary surfaces. Our field site is the Kings Bowl (KB) eruptive fissure and lava field, located at Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve, Idaho. It is an ideal location for planetary analog field studies on volcanic and impact processes and therefore an ideal location for testing VR enabled science and exploration. For this work we have studied impact features, called "squeeze ups", present in the KB lava field near the main vent. These features were formed by the ejection of blocks during the phreatic eruption that formed the Kings Bowl pit. The unusual morphology of these features implies that they formed when the lava pond had not yet completely solidified, suggesting a source of impactors from the primary vent itself. We compared these features with analogous self-secondary impact features observed in lunar impact melt flows in an effort to better understand how the formation of these unusual features is related to impact processes and regolith evolution. For this work we integrated field measurements of feature size and distribution, as well as LiDAR data, of the KB squeeze-ups in a VR environment to simulate our work in the field. Integrating field measurements with LiDAR data of the KB squeeze-ups will expand the data set because the LiDAR data covers a more extensive area than the field measurements due to the slower nature of walking field work vs a scanning LiDAR. This technique will also allow us to take similar measurements in the VR environment as those taken in the field in order to ground-truth and verify that field work in the VR environment using LiDAR data replicates actual field work. Testing VR applications for planetary surface exploration and analog work will also inform science operations for VR-based exploration by allowing us to document best practices for decision making protocols, traverse planning, communications and data flow protocols for field work, as well as field work planning and support for surface science activities.