Prospectivity Modeling of the NASA VIPER Landing Site at Mons Mouton near the Lunar South Pole
We use a high-resolution digital elevation model and a numerical thermal model to produce a variety of inputs for a water-ice prospectivity model for the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) landing site. These input data are maps of topography, surface slope, surface aspect, surf...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Series: | The Planetary Science Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/adbc6c |
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| author | Joshua Coyan Matt Siegler Jose Martinez-Comacho Ross Beyer Mark Shirley |
| author_facet | Joshua Coyan Matt Siegler Jose Martinez-Comacho Ross Beyer Mark Shirley |
| author_sort | Joshua Coyan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We use a high-resolution digital elevation model and a numerical thermal model to produce a variety of inputs for a water-ice prospectivity model for the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) landing site. These input data are maps of topography, surface slope, surface aspect, surface curvature, maximum temperature, depth to ice stability, permanently shadowed regions (PSRs), distance to PSRs, and PSR density. This model predicts where water ice is most likely within the top meter of regolith, assuming plausible relationships between ice concentration and the various inputs. The model is designed to be adjusted in near-real time as data are collected during the VIPER mission. As such, it is a tool for both analyzing data from the mission as well as planning operations. Since the current model, at this point, relies only on orbital remote sensing, the final version will also be a tool to extrapolate the VIPER mission results across the lunar poles. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a07c1da4c518478296d668e44d4ff58d |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2632-3338 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Planetary Science Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-a07c1da4c518478296d668e44d4ff58d2025-08-20T02:13:27ZengIOP PublishingThe Planetary Science Journal2632-33382025-01-016510510.3847/PSJ/adbc6cProspectivity Modeling of the NASA VIPER Landing Site at Mons Mouton near the Lunar South PoleJoshua Coyan0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8450-7364Matt Siegler1Jose Martinez-Comacho2Ross Beyer3Mark Shirley4US Geological Survey, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center , 904 West Riverside Avenue, Spokane, WA 99201, USA ; jcoyan@usgs.govUniversity of Hawai’i at Manoa , Hawaii Institute for Geophysics and Planetology, 1680 East-West Road, POST Building, Honolulu, HI 96822, USAUniversity of Hawai’i at Manoa , Hawaii Institute for Geophysics and Planetology, 1680 East-West Road, POST Building, Honolulu, HI 96822, USASagan Center at the SETI Institute , 189 Bernardo Avenue, Suite 200, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA; NASA Ames Research Center , Moffett Field, CA 94035, USANASA Ames Research Center , Moffett Field, CA 94035, USAWe use a high-resolution digital elevation model and a numerical thermal model to produce a variety of inputs for a water-ice prospectivity model for the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) landing site. These input data are maps of topography, surface slope, surface aspect, surface curvature, maximum temperature, depth to ice stability, permanently shadowed regions (PSRs), distance to PSRs, and PSR density. This model predicts where water ice is most likely within the top meter of regolith, assuming plausible relationships between ice concentration and the various inputs. The model is designed to be adjusted in near-real time as data are collected during the VIPER mission. As such, it is a tool for both analyzing data from the mission as well as planning operations. Since the current model, at this point, relies only on orbital remote sensing, the final version will also be a tool to extrapolate the VIPER mission results across the lunar poles.https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/adbc6cPlanetary polar regionsLunar surfaceRoversLunar scienceAstronomy data modelingComet volatiles |
| spellingShingle | Joshua Coyan Matt Siegler Jose Martinez-Comacho Ross Beyer Mark Shirley Prospectivity Modeling of the NASA VIPER Landing Site at Mons Mouton near the Lunar South Pole The Planetary Science Journal Planetary polar regions Lunar surface Rovers Lunar science Astronomy data modeling Comet volatiles |
| title | Prospectivity Modeling of the NASA VIPER Landing Site at Mons Mouton near the Lunar South Pole |
| title_full | Prospectivity Modeling of the NASA VIPER Landing Site at Mons Mouton near the Lunar South Pole |
| title_fullStr | Prospectivity Modeling of the NASA VIPER Landing Site at Mons Mouton near the Lunar South Pole |
| title_full_unstemmed | Prospectivity Modeling of the NASA VIPER Landing Site at Mons Mouton near the Lunar South Pole |
| title_short | Prospectivity Modeling of the NASA VIPER Landing Site at Mons Mouton near the Lunar South Pole |
| title_sort | prospectivity modeling of the nasa viper landing site at mons mouton near the lunar south pole |
| topic | Planetary polar regions Lunar surface Rovers Lunar science Astronomy data modeling Comet volatiles |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/adbc6c |
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