Ajai,

Arya, A. S.

Kiran Kumar, A. S.

Navalgund, R. R.

Rajasekhar, R. P.

English

Publications of the IAS Fellows

IDENTIFICATION OF LUNAR VOLCANIC TUBES,  A POTENTIAL SITE FOR HUMAN SETTLE-
MENT USING   3D CHANDRYAAN 1 – TMC  DATA .  A.S. Arya1,  R.P.Rajasekhar1, Ajai1 , A.S Kiran Ku-
mar1, R.R. Navalgund1  , Space Applications Centre, Indian Space Research Organization, Ahmedabad–380 015
(India), arya_as@sac.dos.gov.in.
Introduction:  Chandrayaan-1 is the maiden Indi-
an planetary mission to the moon, realised by the state
of art technology involving 11 different & complimen-
tary sensors. One of the sensors , the Terrain Mapping
Camera (TMC) has high spatial resolution of 5 m and
multi viewing capability, enabling 3 dimensional view
of the Lunar surface [1]. In future, there may be mis-
sions for identifying sites for permanent base stations
(PBS) and human settlements on the Moon. There is
no preventive atmosphere on the Moon to save it from
the impact of meteorites or other bodies, which makes
human settlement a very vulnerable preposition. Thus
there is a need to identify such locales which have sur-
vived the onslaught  of metereoritic impacts and fur-
nish  excellent  locales for the dwelling of human be-
ings on the Moon.
 One such entity is the  the Rille system. A  Rille is
a remnant  of volcanic tube, whose roof has capsized
and  a  valley is  created.  At  places the  roof of such
tubes have not caved in and remains intact, with hol-
low interior. 
Analysis and Discussion:  Volcanic tube has been
identified  in  the  Oceanus  Procellarum  area  of  the
Moon  (Central  Longitude:  58.3170 W  /  Latitude:
14.1110 N )  using  Chandrayaan-I  Terrain  Mapping
Camera (TMC) data. This rille runs for about 3.65 km
in   NE-SW direction.  A close observation  suggests
another small rille of 1.73 km length  , situated 2 km
SW of the existing main rille, which appears to be an
extension of this tube while the intermittent strech be-
tween the two rilles seems to be the roof of the lava
tube which did not collapse for some reason. The au-
thors have tried to analyse the TMC stereo data to find
the length, depth, slopes within and outside the Rille ,
in order to establish continuity between the main rille
and the shorter rille 1.73 km  south-west of the for-
mer. Fig. 1 shows the nadir view  of  the study area. 
The  rille and the area around the rille is investi-
gated in 3D using TMC DEM. For this study both or-
thoimage and DEM of TMC data with orbit 798 ac-
quired during  13 January, 2009 at an  orbit height of
100 km was used.  Topographic  variations along the
profiles/lines  in  different  directions  both  across and
along the feature were studied, so that it provides in-
formation about both extent and variation of topogra-
phy versus  distance.   Colored contour  map  (Fig.  2)
was analysed for understanding three dimensional to-
pographic variation across the area.
 
 Fig. 1. The TMC view of the rille.
The drop between the two rilles,  along the  com-
mon-strike, is of the order of about 120 m (-1260 to
-1140 m), this suggests that the smaller rille is lower
than  the main  rille ,  thus suggesting a continuity of
the main rille in SW direction. With in the study area,
south of the  main  Rille, the  topography   shows a
drop in  the slope, around 160 m (-1100 to -1260 m
depth ) from ESE to WNW. This rules out any possi-
bility of lava flow filling  the intermittent  portion  of
these two rilles after their emplacement as one single
volcanic tube while the remaining portion in between
the two rilles is the un-collapsed roof  of the same lave
tube. 
1484.pdf41st Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (2010)
Fig. 2. Colored contour map of the study area 
    The part of lunar surface between the main rille and
smaller  rille appears to be an uncollapsed portion of
the lava-tube which is an extension of the main rille.
This un-damaged tube is about  360 m wide  and  2.0
km  long,  which  furnishes  a  safe  and  substantial
dwelling  site  for  human  settlements  in  future  mis-
sions. 
References: 
[1]  Kiran Kumar, A.S. et al. (2009),  The Terrain
Mapping Camera on Chandrayaan-1 and initial  re-
sults. LPS XXXX, Abstract #1584.
 
1484.pdf41st Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (2010)


Identification of lunar volcanic tubes, a potential site for human settlement using 3D Chandrayaan-1 TMC data

http://repository.ias.ac.in/89361/1/40P.pdf

Identification of lunar volcanic tubes, a potential site for human settlement using 3D Chandrayaan-1 TMC data

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Publications of the IAS Fellows