Moon LRO LOLA DEM 118m v1

Product Information:

This digital elevation model (DEM) is based on data from the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA; Smith et al., 2010), an instrument on the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft (Tooley et al., 2010). The created DEM represents more than 6.5 billion measurements gathered between July 2009 and July 2013, adjusted for consistency in the coordinate system described below, and then converted to lunar radii (Mazarico et al., 2012).

Elevations were computed by subtracting the lunar reference radius of 1737.4 km from the surface radius measurements (LRO Project and LGCWG, 2008; Archinal et al., 2011). Thus elevation values are the distance above or below the reference sphere. The average accuracy of each point after crossover correction is better than 20 meters in horizontal position and ~1 meter in radius (Mazarico et al., 2012). The measurements were converted into a DEM (Neumann et al., 2011) using Generic Mapping Tools software (Wessel & Smith, 2008), with a resolution of 256 pixels per degree. In projection, the pixels are 118 meters in size at the equator. Gaps between tracks of 1–2 km are common, and some gaps of up to 4 km occur near the equator. DEM points located in these gaps in LOLA data were filled by interpolation Smith et al., 2010).

Mission and Instrument Information:

The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) launched the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft to the Moon in June 2009 (Tooley et al., 2010) carrying a variety of instruments including the LOLA) which continues to return high-resolution images of the lunar surface from its eccentric polar mapping orbit (Petro et al., 2019).

The LOLA has collected over more than 6.5 billion measurements of global surface height with a vertical precision of ~10 cm and an accuracy of ~1m (Mazarico et al., 2012). With such highly accurate global coverage, the resulting topographic map has become the reference geodetic framework for the lunar community and has led to the highest resolution and most accurate polar digital elevation models (DEMs) to date.

References:

Archinal, B. A., et al. (2011). Report of the IAU Working Group on cartographic coordinates and rotational elements: 2009. Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy, 109(2), 101-135. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10569-010-9320-4

Davies, M. E. & Colvin, T. R. (2000). Lunar coordinates in the regions of the Apollo landers. Journal of Geophysical Research, 105(E8), 20277-20280. https://doi.org/10.1029/1999JE001165

Folkner, W. M., Williams, J. G., & Boggs, D. H. (2008). The Planetary and Lunar Ephemeris DE 421. JPL Memorandum IOM 343R-08-003, 31 March. ftp://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/pub/eph/planets/ioms/de421.iom.v1.pdf

Folkner, W. M., Williams, J. G., & Boggs, D. H. (2009). The Planetary and Lunar Ephemeris DE 421. IPN Progress Report 42-178, August 15. http://ipnpr.jpl.nasa.gov/progress_report/42-178/178C.pdf

Greeley, R. & Batson, R. M. (1990). Planetary mapping. (ISBN 0-521-30774-0, pp. 274–275). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

LRO Project and Lunar Geodesy and Cartography Working Group (2008). A standardized lunar coordinate system for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and lunar datasets: LRO Project and LGCWG White Paper, version 5 of October 1. http://lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov/library/LunCoordWhitePaper-10-08.pdf

Mazarico, E., et al. (2012). Orbit determination of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Journal of Geodesy, 86(3), 193-207. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00190-011-0509-4

Neumann, G. A., (2011). Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter reduced data record and derived products software interface specification, version 2.42, LRO-L-LOLA-4- GDR-V1.0, NASA Planetary Data System (PDS). https://pds-geosciences.wustl.edu/lro/lro-l-lola-3-rdr-v1/lrolol_1xxx/document/rdrsis.pdf

Petro, N. E., et al. (2019). Ten years of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter: Advancing lunar science and context for future lunar exploration. Paper presented at the 50th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX. https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2019/pdf/2780.pdf

Smith, D. E., et al. (2010). Initial observations from the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA). Geophysical Research Letters, 37(18). https://doi.org/10.1029/2010GL043751

Smith, D. E., et al. (2011). Results from the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA): global, high-resolution topographic mapping of the Moon. Paper presented at the 42nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX. https://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2011/pdf/2350.pdf

Tooley, C. R., et al. (2010). Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission and spacecraft design. Space Science Review, 150, 23–62. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-009-9624-4

Wessel, P. & Smith, W. H. F. (1998). New, improved version of Generic Mapping Tools released. Eos, Transactions of the American Geophysical Union, 79(47), 579. https://doi.org/10.1002/2013EO450001

Williams, J. G., Boggs, D. H., and Folkner, W. M. (2008). DE421 Lunar Orbit, Physical Librations, and Surface Coordinates. JPL Interoffice Memorandum IOM 335-JW,DB,WF-20080314-001, 14 March. ftp://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/pub/eph/planets/ioms/de421_moon_coord_iom.pdf

Publisher

LOLA Science Team

Publication Date

11 March 2014

Author

LOLA Science Team

Originator

Goddard Space Flight Center

Group

PDS

Added to Astropedia

17 January 2014

Modified

11 October 2019

General

Purpose

To create a preliminary elevation model for the Moon.

Geospatial Data Presentation Form

Digital Elevation Model, Topographic Map, Remote-sensing Data

Edition

March 11, 2014

Online Linkage

http://planetarymaps.usgs.gov/mosaic/Lunar_LRO_LOLA_Global_LDEM_118m_Mar2014.tif

Native Data Set Environment

ISIS v3

Supplemental Information

https://lola.gsfc.nasa.gov/, https://ode.rsl.wustl.edu/moon/, http://pds-geosciences.wustl.edu/missions/lro/lola_faq.htm, http://pds-geosciences.wustl.edu/lro/lro-l-lola-3-rdr-v1/lrolol_1xxx/catalog/lolainst.cat, http://pds-geosciences.wustl.edu/missions/lro/default.htm

Keywords

System

Earth

Target

Moon

Theme

Topography, Remote Sensing, Image Processing

Mission

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

Instrument

LOLA

Contact and Distribution

Access Constraints

public domain

Use Constraints

Please cite authors

Data Status and Quality

Time Period of Content Begin

13 July 2009

Time Period of Content End

18 July 2013

Currentness Reference

Ground condition

Progress

In Work

Update Frequency

As needed

Logical Consistency Report

The LOLA data were initially referenced to an internally consistent inertial coordinate system, derived from tracking of the LRO spacecraft. By adopting appropriate values for the orientation of the Moon as defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU, Archinal and others, 2011), these inertial coordinates were converted into the planet-fixed coordinates (longitude and latitude) used on this map. The coordinate system defined for this product is the mean Earth/polar axis (ME) system. The ME system, sometimes called the mean Earth/rotation axis system, is the method most often used for cartographic products of the past (Davies and Colvin, 2000). Values for the orientation of the Moon were derived from the JPL DE/LE 421 planetary ephemeris (Williams and others, 2008; Folkner and others, 2008, 2009), rotated into the ME system. Longitude increases to the east and latitude is planetocentric as allowed in accordance with current international and NASA standards (Archinal and others, 2011; LRO Project and LGCWG, 2008). The intersection of the lunar equator and prime meridian occurs at what can be called the Moon’s “mean sub-Earth point.” The concept of a lunar “sub-Earth point” derives from the fact that the Moon’s rotation is tidally locked to the Earth. The actual sub-Earth point on the Moon varies slightly due to orbital eccentricity, inclination, and other factors, so a “mean sub-Earth point” is used to define the point on the lunar surface where longitude equals 0°. This point does not coincide with any prominent crater or other lunar surface feature (Archinal and others, 2011; LRO Project and LGCWG, 2008).

Completeness Report

Gaps between tracks of 1–2 km are common, and some gaps of up to 4 km occur near the equator. DEM points located in these gaps in LOLA data were filled by interpolation (Smith and others, 2011). The high and low elevations in the DEM are approximate because of the interpolation process uesd.

Process Description

The LOLA measurements were converted into a digital elevation model (DEM; Neumann and others, 2010) using Generic Mapping Tools software (Wessel and Smith, 1998), with a resolution of 256 pixels per degrees. In projection, the pixels are 118 meters in size at the equator. PRODUCT_CREATION_TIME = 2014-03-11T00:00:00

Horizontal Positional Accuracy Value

20

Horizontal Positional Accuracy Report

Best Effort

Vertical Positional Accuracy Value

1

Vertical Positional Accuracy Report

Best Effort

Entity and Attribute Overview

Elevation in meters

Entity and Attribute Detailed Description

Conversion to local height (meters) is accomplished via the following equation:
Height = (Pixel Value * Scaling Factor)
Conversion to local Radius (meters) is computed as follows:
Radius = (Pixel Value * Scaling factor) + 1737400
where Scaling Factor = 0.5 (as listed in the label as Multiplier)

e.g. conversion using GDAL tools: >gdal_translate -unscale -ot float23 -co bigtiff=if_safer in.cub out_32bit.cub

Elevations were originally computed by subtracting the lunar reference radius of 1737400.0 m (Archinal and others, 2011; LRO Project and LGCWG, 2008) from the surface radius measurements. Thus elevation values are the distance above or below the reference sphere.

Lineage

PDS Status

PDS 3 Archived

Source Originator

Planetary Data System Geosciences Node

Source Title

The LOLA Data Node

Source Online Linkage

http://pds-geosciences.wustl.edu/lro/lro-l-lola-2-edr-v1/lrolol_0xxx/data/lola_edr/, https://pds-imaging.jpl.nasa.gov/volumes/lro.html, http://pds-geosciences.wustl.edu/missions/lro/lola.htm, https://pds-imaging.jpl.nasa.gov/portal/lro_mission.htm

Type of Source Media

Online

Attribute Accuracy Report

Best Effort

Geospatial Information

Minimum Latitude

-90

Maximum Latitude

90

Minimum Longitude

-180

Maximum Longitude

180

Direct Spatial Reference Method

Raster

Object Type

Pixel

Lines (pixels)

46080

Samples (pixels)

92160

Bit Type

16

Quad Name

Radius A

1737400

Radius C

1737400

Bands

1

Pixel Resolution (meters/pixel)

118.4505876

Scale (pixels/degree)

256

Horizontal Coordinate System Units

Meters

Map Projection Name

Simple Cylindrical

Latitude Type

Planetocentric

Longitude Direction

Positive East

Longitude Domain

-180 to 180