- 1College of Surveying and Geographic Informatics, Tongji University, Shanghai, China (xhtong@tongji.edu.cn)
- 2Institute of Geodesy and Geoinformation Science, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
With the Moon’s rotation axis almost perpendicular to the ecliptic, the lunar polar regions are in a unique position. As the Sun hovers near the horizon all year round, and given the rough morphology, this leads to very complex illumination conditions in the area. High-resolution illumination maps derived from accurate lunar terrains serve as essential tools for identifying cold traps and evaluating solar energy ― key factors for upcoming exploration missions [1], [2]. Here, we use our previously developed illumination modeling methodology [3] to produce a series of illumination maps based on Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) gridded topographic models. Benefitting from the methodological optimizations and GPU acceleration techniques, modeling efficiency is no longer a challenge. We produced maps of the average illumination and the distribution of Permanently Shadowed Regions (PSRs), the resolution and coverage of these maps are consistent with the LOLA terrains, up to a maximum resolution of 5 meters [4]. Another derivative of modeling, the artificially shaded synthetic images corresponding to illumination at any moment, can be compared with “real” image data. We selected Malapert Massif and Shackleton-de Gerlache Ridge (both near the candidate landing sites of the Artemis program) as our experimental areas, and compared our maps with previously published illumination data [1], [2]. The results show that, our higher-resolution illumination maps are visibly more informative and the corresponding synthetic images are more consistent with the illumination patterns seen in “real” images. This work can provide useful suggestions for future lunar south pole explorations and scientific research.
[1] Mazarico E., et al. (2011) Illumination conditions of the lunar polar regions using LOLA topography. Icarus, 211, pp.106681.
[2] Gläser, P., et al. (2018) Illumination conditions at the lunar poles: Implications for future exploration. Planetary and Space Science, 162, pp.170-178.
[3] Tong, XH., et al. (2022) A high-precision horizon-based illumination modeling method for the lunar surface using pyramidal LOLA data. Icarus, 390, pp.115302.
[4] Barker et al. (2023) A New View of the Lunar South Pole from the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA). The Planetary Science Journal, 4, pp.183.
How to cite: Huang, Q., Liu, S., Chen, H., Gläser, P., He, F., Oberst, J., and Tong, X.: High-resolution Illumination Maps around the Lunar South Pole, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-19657, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-19657, 2025.
