MINERALOGY OF THE DESCARTES REGION ON THE MOON USING MOON MINERALOGY MAPPER HYPERSPECTRAL DATA

The introduction of CCD cameras to orbital satellites has significantly increased our ability to analyze the composition of naturally occurring planetary materials. This method is implored by observing the characteristics of light not only in the visible range (390-750 nm), but across the electromagnetic spectrum (420-3000 nm). The Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M³), a NASA supported guest instrument on India’s Chandrayaan-1 is a state-of-the-art imaging spectrometer that was launched in 2008. Since that time, a number of data products have been released and each level has been subjected to a number of calibration techniques. This is necessary to compare hyperspectral image spectra with reference reflectance spectra. By utilizing the nature of light’s interaction with rocks and minerals, we have been able to classify these materials remotely without the usual physical contact that is required to identify them. Remote sensing analysis programs, such as ENVI, have the ability to analyze hyperspectral data and to perform classification methods to determine the mineralogical makeup of the surface material. The Descartes Region on the moon, the focus of the Apollo 16 mission, was chosen as a training site since known rock samples were collected and identified. The M³ data will be analyzed using supervised classification methods that use defined region of interests whose composition is already known to define the mineralogical composition of the Descartes Region. These results can then be compared with unsupervised classification methods in order to evaluate the efficiency of the ENVI program. Preliminary results indicate that the majority of the region consists of dust whose mineralogy cannot be determined but that the rims of the craters contain a wide variety of mafic minerals including pyroxenes, amphiboles and Ca-plagioclases.