Lunar Topography and Volatile Stability from LOLA
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Lunar Reconaissance Orbiter Mission
Project Description
As Science Team Co-Investigator, Aharonson plans to perform the following work, continuing from previous years.
We seek to derive from LOLA data lunar surface slopes and roughness as a function of scale, and to study the influence of these measurements on surface temperature. Topography and roughness properties of the surface affect temperature; this we seek to understand the accumulation of water molecules at cold traps, and their relation to regions of permanent shadow.
We theoretically investigate the statistical properties of the topography and its power spectrum resulting from the dominant processes of terrain evolution on the Moon including cratering, and downslope redistribution of material.
Aharonson, the PI, will oversee the project and will be responsible for its performance.