Expert Exchange: GIS-based supporting of lunar south pole landing site selection

Europlanet 2024 RI’s Expert Exchange Programme aims to support the planetary community to share expertise and best practice, and to prepare new facilities and services. The programme provides funding for short visits (up to one week).

Richard Tomka of the HUN-REN Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences in Hungary visited Sarah Boazman at ESA-ESTEC, Netherlands, from 09-12-19 November 2023.

During my visit at ESTEC, I worked together with Sarah Boazman, a GIS expert supporting the landing site selection of the NASA-ESA CP-22 CLPS lunar mission, planned to be launched in 2026-2027, including the former eight candidate landing regions, and especially the recently identified 4 final locations. I analysed and made an overview of the effect of the surface topography on the local illumination conditions, in order to better understand the temporal changes of illumination conditions for the solar panels of the mission. Data acquisition was required using the Lunar QuickMap TerrainShadows tool, Digital Elevation Model, Solar position to calculate where and when will be the surface covered by shadow. The acquired *.TIF files were used to measure the duration of the illuminated period at the candidate sites.

I wrote ArcGIS specific Python (arcpy) codes and ran them to make videos from the downloaded images and counting the periods, when enough illumination available at the landing sites to provide safe opertation windows to the PROSPECT driller. I received the ArcGIS compatible version of the Paige thermodynamic model at ESTEC to estimate the temperature and ice occurrence below the surface with extract values from raster dataset. The Paige model supports the searching process for potential water ice occurrence that is accessible for the driller. Using high resolution NAC images and Digital Elevation Model georeferenced created in ISIS and AMS Stereo Pipeline to make hazard survey of the surface (to detect boulders, craters etc.) that makes the landing dangerous. At ESTEC I also got a short introduction course into the ISIS environment, which shows me how can I produce such datasets. I attended a data science workshop where the advantages of Jupyter Lab were explained. For me as an end-user of planetary datasets this system provides an easier way to use ISIS and AMS Stereo Pipeline, supported by several technical tasks that require moderate knowledge in UNIX-based systems and package installation. The results supported the upgrade of an earlier manuscript, and I’m also compiling a new manuscript currently.

Expert Exchange Objectives covered by this visit: Training, Early Career Support.

Find out more about the Europlanet Expert Exchange Programme.