Study of Mineralogical diversity and Scattering characteristics of Lunar Equatorial region using Chandrayaan-1 data

Abstract

Mineral mapping of lunar surface is significant to understand the origin, evolution, geological history of the Moon. Advancements in orbital satellite sensor technology has allowed discriminating the minerals on lunar surface using hyperspectral data. Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M³) is an imaging spectrometer that has provided the first high-resolution spatial and spectral map of the entire lunar surface. Band ratio and spectral profiling methods are used for identifying minerals. 1 µm and 2 µm band depth derived from Moon Mineralogy Mapper data were used to detect the Olivine and Calcic-Pyroxene rich sites. Mini-SAR of Chandrayaan-1 is the very first kind of hybrid polarimetric radar flown outside the Earth’s orbit. The hybrid polarimetric architecture of mini-SAR allows the measurement of the Stokes parameters and backscatter properties of various lunar geological features. SAR is a powerful tool to study the physical and geometrical properties of lunar morphological features and the magnitude and characteristics of SAR backscatter and m-χ decomposition parameters are critical in understanding the morphology and nature of deposits associated with lunar surface features. In this paper Mineralogical diversity and Scattering characteristic of Byrgius Crater, King Crater, Maunder Crater, Taylor Crater and Descartes Crater were investigated using Chandrayaan-1 data.