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Chandrayaan 2

Image title
TMC-2 Footprints

The Chandrayaan 2 is an Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Lunar Mission. The Chandrayaan 2 Lunar Orbiter was launched in 2019 and remains in successful operation (as of early 2026). It orbits the moon in a 100km polar orbit. The Orbiter's instruments, TMC-2 and OHRC, are notable for their high resolution images.

Instruments

TMC-2 (Terrain Mapping Camera)

  • Resolution: 5m/pixel
  • Band: Panchromatic Grayscale (PAN, 0.4-0.85 microns)
  • Area Captured: 20km swath
  • Captures Stereo Triplets with its 3 CCD arrays
    • Fore (+25 degrees)
    • Nadir (0 degrees)
    • Aft (-25 degrees)

OHRC (Orbiter High Resolution Camera)

  • Resolution: 0.25-0.32m/pixel
  • Band: Visible Panchromatic Grayscale (PAN)
  • Area Captured: 12km x 3km
  • Can capture dual angle images, over two orbits.

Obtaining Chandrayaan 2 Images

Chandrayaan 2 images can be downloaded from the Chandrayaan 2 Data Explorer (Interactive Map) or the ISRO Science Data Archive on Pradan to manually browse files. A login is required; new users must register an account.

Using the ISRO Chandrayaan Data Explorer

Once you are logged in to the ISRO Website, you can access the CH-2 Data Explorer.

There are two ways to search for data here:

Layers Panel

Layers Panel

Selecting a type of data on this panel will show it as a layer of footprints on the map. Click on a footprint to select it. This should bring up the Results Panel.

If you are using USGS software, you will most likely be interested in the CH2_OHRC_Calibrated_Product and CH2_TMC_Calibrated_Product layers.

Data Products Search Panel

Search Panel

This panel does a search for images. It can be a filtered search, narrowed by Instrument, Data Type, Area, and (optionally) observation date, or an ID search, using part of the PDS Product ID. For filtered searches, the search area is required and cannot span larger than 5 degrees.

Results Panel

Results Panel

After you have selected one or more image, they will appear in the results panel, and you may download them from here with the download button.

Image Naming Convention

The file naming convention is as follows, and can be read using the table below:

ch2_<inst>_<mtc>_<YYYYMMDDTHHMMSSssss>_<P>_<prd>_<Stn>.fff

For Example:

ch2_tmc_nca_20200207T0716469418_d_img_d18.xml
Chandrayaan 2, TMC-2, Normal Operations Phase, Calibrated, Aft Camera, 2020, Feb 7th, 7:16:46.9418, Data Product, Image, ISSDC Banglador Station, Detached Label File

Code Description
ch2 Mission Name: Always ch2 for Chandrayaan 2
inst Instrument ID:
ohr - OHRC
tmc - TMC-2
m Mission Phase:
n - Normal Operations Phase
t Data Type:
r - raw data
c - calibrated data
d - derived data
c Imaging Mode/Camera ID/Band:
For OHRC:
p - Panchromatic High Resolution Camera
For TMC-2:
f - Fore Camera
n - Nadir Camera
a - Aft Camera
YYYYMMDDT HHMMSSssss Observation Start Time: Year, Month, Day, "T", Hours, Minutes, Seconds, 1/1000 seconds
P PDS Data Product Categories:
d - Data (data directory);
b - Browse (browse directory);
g - Gridded (geometry directory)
prd PDS Data Product Name:
img - Image
brw - Browse
grd - Gridded
dtm - Digital Terrain Model
oth - Orthoimage
Stn Station ID:
d32 - ISSDC Bangalore;
d18 - ISSDC Bangalore;
gds - Gold Stone, USA
cnb - Canberra, Australia
fff File Extension:
img - Image Data File
xml - Detached Label File
jpg - Browse Data File
csv - Geometry Data File

Using TMC-2 and OHRC Images in ISIS

Recommended: Use Calibrated Images

Isis can import calibrated Chandrayaan 2 images. Raw images may work, but might not have the right DNs. Look for the c in the middle of the third segment of the filename to confirm if a product is calibrated. In the normal phase of the mission, that segment is
ncp, ncn, nca, or ncf for calibrated images in the normal mission phase.

Calibrated images:

  • ch2_ohr_ncp_20211228T2209123959_d_img_d18 (OHRC)
  • ch2_tmc_ncn_20241216T0659485431_d_img_d18 (TMC Nadir)
  • ch2_tmc_nca_20221205T1434464659_d_img_d32 (TMC Aft)
  • ch2_tmc_ncf_20230205T2054187027_d_img_n18 (TMC Fore)

Other Data Types:

  • ch2_tmc_nra_20191212T2004326989_d_img_d18 (Raw)
  • ch2_tmc_ndn_20200109T0733072590_d_dtm_gds (DTM)
  • ch2_tmc_ndn_20200108T2341257476_d_oth_mad (Ortho)

Calibrated Chandrayaan 2 images from the TMC-2 and OHRC instruments are available in the PDS-4 standard. They can be imported into ISIS with isisimport. Templates to import images from either instrument are included and should be autodetected in ISIS versions 10.0 and above.

Importing Chandrayaan 2 Images with isisimport

The Image (.img) and Label (.xml) files for an observation should be placed in the same directory, and the Label (.xml) file should be specified in the from parameter for isisimport:

isisimport from=ch2_tmc_nca_20200207T0716469418_d_img_d18.xml to=ch2_tmc_nca_20200207T0716469418_d_img_d18.cub

Further Chandrayaan 2 Examples:

Sources