LROC NAC Digital Terrain Models (DTM) are made from geometric stereo pairs (two images of the same area on the ground, taken from different view angles under nearly the same illumination). LROC was not designed as a stereo system, but can obtain stereo pairs through images acquired from two orbits (with at least one off-nadir slew). Off-nadir rolls interfere with the data collection of the other instruments, so LROC slew opportunities are limited to four per day. Due to the time-intensive process, not all of the stereo pairs have been made into DTMs.

This DTM was generated by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) using photogrammetry software generated in-house. In addition they produced a confidence map, orthorectified mosaics in two resolutions, and a grayscale slope map. To ensure consistency with the other NAC DTM datasets, a shaded relief image, a color shaded relief image, and a color slope map were additionally generated. An orthorectified image has all topographical and camera distortions removed. These images are cartographically true and can be used to measure accurate distances. A shaded-relief generated using the DTM simulates the Moon's surface with a light source casting shadows on the terrain. Color coded elevations are draped on the shaded-relief to form the color shaded relief map. Finally slopes derived from the DTM are color-coded. A confidence map indicates the quality of the elevation estimate at each pixel. Refer to the readme file for the description of the pixel values as well as for other DTM specific information.

The DTM, grayscale slope map, confidence map, and orthorectified images in two resolutions (resolution of the DTM and resolution of the original images) are archived as standard PDS products. The shaded-relief, color shaded-relief, color slope map, and DTM are in GeoTIFF format.

For more information on the methodology and preliminary error analysis of the DTMs, see Oberst et al. 2010 [1].

[1] Oberst, J., Scholten, F., Matz, K.-D., Roatsch, T., Wählisch, M., Haase, I., Gläser, I., Gwinner, K., Robinson, M.S., and the LROC Team, 2010. Apollo 17 Landing Site Topography from LROC NAC Stereo Data- First Analysis and Results. 41st Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Houston, TX, March 2010, Abs #2051. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2010/pdf/2051.pdf

Shackleton Crater Rim Potential Landing Site for ESA Lunar Lander DTM

Discrete Color Shade Legend