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- Title
An Improved Global Catalog of Lunar Impact Craters (≥1 km) With 3D Morphometric Information and Updates on Global Crater Analysis.
- Authors
Wang, Yiran; Wu, Bo; Xue, Haiou; Li, Xiaoming; Ma, Jun
- Abstract
Impact craters are common surface features on planetary surfaces. Their distribution offers important clues regarding geological and temporal processes on the Moon. Numerous endeavors have generated global catalogs of lunar craters; however, most of the existing catalogs only contain large craters (larger than several kilometers in diameter), and none of them offer three‐dimensional (3D) morphometric information. In this study, we first present a machine‐learning approach for automatic crater detection from digital elevation models (DEMs). Our crater detection approach can achieve a detection rate of about 85%. We also present an approach for extracting 3D morphometric information of craters based on the topography. These approaches were applied to producing a global crater data set covering the entire lunar surface that includes approximately 1.32 million craters (≥1 km). Verification was performed against previously published catalogs (Head et al., 2010, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1195050; Robbins, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018je005592), with about 23% of our craters transferred from the previous catalogs after a rim‐fitting process. The crater catalog includes 3D morphometric data on the craters such as depths. Global analyses of craters based on this improved catalog indicate that the lunar mare and highlands have distinctive crater density differences of small craters (1–5 km). Craters of 2.5–5 km have reached saturation in several local regions in the highlands. Small craters (1–5 km) on the lunar mare are deeper than those on the highlands. The data in our comprehensive crater catalog can support various other lunar scientific studies. Plain Language Summary: Impact craters are the dominant surface features on the Moon. Research on impact craters offers important clues regarding the physical and geological processes of the Moon. This study first describes effective approaches for automatic crater detection from lunar digital elevation models and the extraction of three‐dimensional (3D) morphometric information of craters. The machine‐learning‐based automatic crater detection achieved a promising detection rate of about 85%. The developed automatic approaches were applied to global data sets followed by extensive checking efforts, to generate an improved global catalog of lunar craters comprising approximately 1.32 million craters with diameters of 1 km or larger and offering 3D morphometric information on craters. Global analyses of craters indicate that the lunar mare and highlands show a distinctive difference in terms of crater density of relatively small craters (1–5 km). Small craters have reached saturation in several local regions on the highlands. Small craters on the lunar mare are deeper than those on the highlands. The improved crater catalog is publicly available and can be used to support various lunar scientific studies. Key Points: Crater detection from automatic methods and extensive checking produced a global catalog of ∼1.32 million craters (≥1 km in diameter) with three‐dimensional informationLunar mare and highlands show distinctive differences in terms of the density and depth‐to‐diameter ratio of small craters (1–5 km)Craters of 2.5–5 km have reached saturation in several local regions on the highlands
- Subjects
IMPACT craters; PLANETARY surfaces; LUNAR craters; DIGITAL elevation models; MOON
- Publication
Journal of Geophysical Research. Planets, 2021, Vol 126, Issue 9, p1
- ISSN
2169-9097
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1029/2020JE006728