Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa, 2016, Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 231-238
Hypsometric mapping and analysis of lunar polar regions, including potential landing sites for Luna-25 and Luna-27 spacecrafts
1 Moscow State University of Geodesy and Cartography, Moscow, Russia
Accepted: 27.08.2016
DOI: 10.21046/2070-7401-2016-13-10-231-238
The paper describes the development and creation of maps of the lunar polar regions. The original modern remote sensing data obtained from spacecrafts in the period from 2007 to present time, which were used for mapping and study of the Earth's satellite topography, are listed. The concept of general wall map of lunar polar regions at a scale of 1:1 600 000 is presented; basic principles of its compilation and design are described. Layout of wall map is shown, that includes general map of polar regions, hypsometric map and map of slopes of crater Boguslavsky – the potential landing site for Luna-25 spacecraft – at a scale of 1:1 000 000, maps of slopes near potential landing sites for Luna-27 spacecraft. With hypsographic curves and histograms of heights the differences in the global relief between the lunar northern and southern polar regions are shown. The height range in the southern region is almost twice that on the north. The average height of the southern polar region is -1339 m, and that on the north is -824 m. Northern polar region is situated on a lunar terrain with old flat-bottomed craters and has a more gently sloping than the southern region that is mostly occupied by the South Pole-Aitken Basin.
Keywords: map of lunar relief, polar regions, Luna-25, Luna-27, characterization of landing sites
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