Depth to Diameter Analysis on Small Simple Craters at the Lunar South Pole—Possible Implications for Ice Harboring

Marco Figuera, Ramiro; Riedel, Christian; Rossi, Angelo Pio; Unnithan, Vikram

doi:10.3390/rs14030450

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Depth to Diameter Analysis on Small Simple Craters at the Lunar South Pole—Possible Implications for Ice Harboring

¹

Department of Physics and Earth Sciences, Jacobs University Bremen, 28759 Bremen, Germany

²

Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, Division of Geotechnical Engineering and Geosciences, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, 08028 Barcelona, Spain

³

Planetary Sciences and Remote Sensing Group, Institute of Geological Sciences, Freie Universität Berlin, 12249 Berlin, Germany

⁴

Department of Computer Science, Complex Multimedia Application Architectures, University of Potsdam, 14476 Potsdam, Germany

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

^†

These authors contributed equally to this work.

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(3), 450; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14030450

Submission received: 15 November 2021 / Revised: 21 December 2021 / Accepted: 13 January 2022 / Published: 18 January 2022

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cartography of the Solar System: Remote Sensing beyond Earth)

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Abstract

In this paper, we present a study comparing the depth to diameter (d/D) ratio of small simple craters (200–1000 m) of an area between −88.5° to −90° latitude at the lunar south pole containing Permanent Shadowed Regions (PSRs) versus craters without PSRs. As PSRs can reach temperatures of 110 K and are capable of harboring volatiles, especially water ice, we analyzed the relationship of depth versus diameter ratios and its possible implications for harboring water ice. Variations in the d/D ratios can also be caused by other processes such as degradation, isostatic adjustment, or differences in surface properties. The conducted d/D ratio analysis suggests that a differentiation between craters containing PSRs versus craters without PSRs occurs. Thus, a possible direct relation between d/D ratio, PSRs, and water ice harboring might exist. Our results suggest that differences in the target’s surface properties may explain the obtained results. The resulting d/D ratios of craters with PSRs can help to select target areas for future In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) missions.

Keywords: craters; lunar exploration; ice harboring

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MDPI and ACS Style

Marco Figuera, R.; Riedel, C.; Rossi, A.P.; Unnithan, V. Depth to Diameter Analysis on Small Simple Craters at the Lunar South Pole—Possible Implications for Ice Harboring. Remote Sens. 2022, 14, 450. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14030450

AMA Style

Marco Figuera R, Riedel C, Rossi AP, Unnithan V. Depth to Diameter Analysis on Small Simple Craters at the Lunar South Pole—Possible Implications for Ice Harboring. Remote Sensing. 2022; 14(3):450. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14030450

Chicago/Turabian Style

Marco Figuera, Ramiro, Christian Riedel, Angelo Pio Rossi, and Vikram Unnithan. 2022. "Depth to Diameter Analysis on Small Simple Craters at the Lunar South Pole—Possible Implications for Ice Harboring" Remote Sensing 14, no. 3: 450. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14030450

APA Style

Marco Figuera, R., Riedel, C., Rossi, A. P., & Unnithan, V. (2022). Depth to Diameter Analysis on Small Simple Craters at the Lunar South Pole—Possible Implications for Ice Harboring. Remote Sensing, 14(3), 450. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14030450

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Depth to Diameter Analysis on Small Simple Craters at the Lunar South Pole—Possible Implications for Ice Harboring

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