Cartography for lunar exploration: 2008 status and mission plans

The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences
By: , and 
Edited by: Jun ChenJie Jiang, and Shailesh Nayak

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Abstract

The initial spacecraft exploration of the Moon in the 1960s-70s yielded extensive data, primarily in the form of film and television images, which were used to produce a large number of hardcopy maps by conventional techniques. A second era of exploration, beginning in the early 1990s, has produced digital data including global multispectral imagery and altimetry, from which a new generation of digital map products tied to a rapidly evolving global control network has been made. Efforts are also underway to scan the earlier hardcopy maps for online distribution and to digitize the film images so that modern processing techniques can be used to make high-resolution digital terrain models (DTMs) and image mosaics consistent with the current global control. The pace of lunar exploration is accelerating dramatically, with as many as eight new missions already launched or planned for the current decade. These missions, of which the most important for cartography are SMART-1 (Europe), Kaguya/SELENE (Japan), Chang'e-1 (China), Chandrayaan-1 (India), and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (USA), will return a volume of data exceeding that of all previous lunar and planetary missions combined. Framing and scanner camera images, including multispectral and stereo data, hyperspectral images, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images, and laser altimetry will all be collected, including, in most cases, multiple data sets of each type. Substantial advances in international standardization and cooperation, development of new and more efficient data processing methods, and availability of resources for processing and archiving will all be needed if the next generation of missions are to fulfill their potential for high-precision mapping of the Moon in support of subsequent exploration and scientific investigation.
Publication type Conference Paper
Publication Subtype Conference Paper
Title Cartography for lunar exploration: 2008 status and mission plans
Series title The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences
Volume 37
Issue B4
Year Published 2008
Language English
Publisher The International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing
Publisher location Beijing, China
Contributing office(s) Astrogeology Science Center
Description 18 p.
Larger Work Type Book
Larger Work Subtype Conference publication
Larger Work Title Proceedings: XXIst ISPRS Congress, Technical Commission IV
First page 1473
Last page 1490
Conference Title XXIst ISPRS Congress Technical Commission IV
Conference Location Beijing, China
Conference Date July 3-11, 2008
Other Geospatial Moon
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