A new global catalogue of lunar craters (≥1 km) with 3D information and preliminary results of global analysis

Abstract

Impact craters are the predominant geomorphological features on the lunar surface. They can be studied to infer the ages of the lunar surfaces, the generation processes of the geological units, and the sequences of its geological events. Lunar crater-related research is dependent on crater records, which are usually stored in the form of crater catalogues. In the past, various efforts have been dedicated to generating global lunar crater catalogues. All published global catalogues, however, either contain only relatively large craters or lack 3D morphological information. This paper first presents approaches for automatic crater detection and the extraction of crater morphological information. The approaches have been performed on the lunar global datasets, e.g., digital elevation models (DEMs) and images, resulting in a global catalogue of lunar craters. To guarantee the reliability of the crater detection results, intensive manual-checking processes have been performed to improve the correctness and completeness of the catalogue. The generated global catalogue contains entries on 1.31 million lunar craters. It extends the existing global catalogues to craters with diameters ≥1 km and enriched with 3D morphological information of craters. Global analyses of craters were conducted based on the newly generated catalogue, including the analysis of crater density and depth-to-diameter ratio. We re-examined the previously observed distributions and patterns to show its fidelity and further explored other global relationships, which have not been discovered in previous research. The results updated the clues on impact cratering process and terrain differences. The developed global catalogue of lunar craters can be utilised for different applications by the research community, and the relevant research will help to enrich the literature and facilitate the advancement of crater-related planetary science.