How well do we know the polar hydrogen distribution on the Moon?

Teodoro, L.F.A.; Eke, V.R.; Elphic, R.C.; Feldman, W.C.; Lawrence, D.J.

doi:10.1002/2013je004421

How well do we know the polar hydrogen distribution on the Moon?

Teodoro, L.F.A.; Eke, V.R.; Elphic, R.C.; Feldman, W.C.; Lawrence, D.J.

Authors

L.F.A. Teodoro

Dr Vincent Eke v.r.eke@durham.ac.uk
Associate Professor

R.C. Elphic

W.C. Feldman

D.J. Lawrence

Abstract

A detailed comparison is made of results from the Lunar Prospector Neutron Spectrometer (LPNS) and the Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector Collimated Sensors for Epithermal Neutrons (LEND CSETN). Using the autocorrelation function and power spectrum of the polar count rate maps produced by these experiments, it is shown that the LEND CSETN has a footprint that is at least as big as would be expected for an omnidirectional detector at an orbital altitude of 50 km. The collimated flux into the field of view of the collimator is negligible. A dip in the count rate in Shoemaker crater is found to be consistent with being a statistical fluctuation superimposed on a significant, larger-scale decrease in the count rate, providing no evidence for high spatial resolution of the LEND CSETN. The maps of lunar polar hydrogen with the highest contrast, i.e., spatial resolution, are those resulting from pixon image reconstructions of the LPNS data. These typically provide weight percentages of water-equivalent hydrogen that are accurate to 30% within the polar craters.

Citation

Teodoro, L., Eke, V., Elphic, R., Feldman, W., & Lawrence, D. (2014). How well do we know the polar hydrogen distribution on the Moon?. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 119(3), 574-593. https://doi.org/10.1002/2013je004421

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Nov 13, 2013
Online Publication Date	Dec 6, 2013
Publication Date	Mar 18, 2014
Deposit Date	Jul 3, 2014
Publicly Available Date	Apr 14, 2015
Journal	Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets
Print ISSN	2169-9097
Electronic ISSN	2169-9100
Publisher	American Geophysical Union
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	119
Issue	3
Pages	574-593
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1002/2013je004421
Keywords	Polar, Distribution, Hydrogen, Lunar.
Related Public URLs	http://ukads.nottingham.ac.uk/abs/2014JGRE..119..574T

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Copyright Statement
Teodoro, L. F. A., Eke, V. R., Elphic, R. C., Feldman, W. C. and Lawrence, D. J. (2014), How well do we know the polar hydrogen distribution on the Moon?, Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 119, 574-593, DOI: 10.1002/2013JE004421. To view the published open abstract, go to https://doi.org and enter the DOI.