Data for "Lunar-VISE landing site selection and characterization at Mons Gruithuisen Gamma"

This data was used in the landing site selection and characterization for the Lunar Vulkan Imaging and Spectroscopy Explorer (Lunar-VISE). This payload was selected for a Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) delivery to the Gruithuisen domes region of the Moon as part of NASA’s Payloads and Research Investigation on the Surface of the Moon (PRISM) program.

Individual LROC NAC images were calibrated and map-projected using the Integrated Software for Imagers and Spectrometers (ISIS3) software using the SLDEM2015 shape model and georeferenced to LROC DTM orthoimages (NAC_DTM_GRUITHUISE8_M150789903_60CM, NAC_DTM_GRUITHUISE8_M150783119_60CM) using ArcGIS Pro 3.3.2.

Slopes and surface roughness, quantified by the terrain ruggedness index (TRI), were derived from the published 2 m/pixel LROC NAC DTM of the Gruithuisen domes. Slopes were computed with a 3×3 moving window using Horn’s algorithm (B. K. P. Horn 1981). TRI was generated using the algorithm in M. F. J. Wilson et al. (2007) which defines the morphometric parameter as the mean in the elevation difference around a central pixel.

The illumination conditions were modeled using topographic data obtained from LOLA and LROC as described in Mazarico et al. (2011). Illumination maps show the solar disk fraction visibility at sunrise and sunset in the landing area.

Shapefiles include the landing and rover traverse region, the landing ellipse, boulder counts, and crater counts.

Visibility analysis was performed to identify areas available for rover traverses that maintain line-of-sight with the lander given a lander location at the center of the ellipse and the north and southern edge (files: LOS_ellipse-center.tif, LOS_ellipse-north.tif, and LOS_ellipse-south.tif). Viewshed analysis, assuming rover-mounted instruments are 1 m above the surface, for Mareta crater north rim area, and locations that require relatively short traverse distances south of the landing ellipse for lander placement at the center and north and south edges of the ellipse (files: LOS_crater_rim_north.tif, LOS_ellipse_center_edge.tif, LOS_ellipse_north_edge.tif, LOS_ellipse_south_edge.tif)

 References:

Horn, B. K. (1981). Hill shading and the reflectance map. Proceedings of the IEEE, 69(1), 14-47. https://doi.org/10.1109/PROC.1981.11918.
Ivanov, M. A., J. W. Head, and A. Bystrov (2016) The lunar Gruithuisen silicic extrusive domes: Topographic configuration, morphology, ages, and internal structure. Icarus 273 (2016): 262-283. 

Mazarico, E., Neumann, G. A., Smith, D. E., Zuber, M. T., & Torrence, M. H. (2011). Illumination conditions of the lunar polar regions using LOLA topography. Icarus, 211(2), 1066-1081. 

Wilson, M. F., O’Connell, B., Brown, C., Guinan, J. C., & Grehan, A. J. (2007). Multiscale terrain analysis of multibeam bathymetry data for habitat mapping on the continental slope. Marine Geodesy, 30(1-2), 3-35.