Lunar surface crater topology generation using adaptive edge detection algorithm

Abstract

The probability of precise soft landing on the lunar surface could be significantly increased by using craters as a navigational landmark. This article aims at the edge information of crater for lander navigation. First, histogram of an image is calculated and adaptive Gaussian filter is applied. Then adaptive canny algorithm is applied to detect edges of craters at different illumination. The craters are extracted by the mechanism of paring the selected valid edges followed by pattern fitting. These detected craters are used as navigational landmarks and for velocity estimation of the lander. Experimental results show the adaptive ability of algorithms for crater detection at different illuminations and different terrains. Craters at high illuminations are also efficiently detected. These detected craters are matched with the reference crater database by use of pattern matching algorithm for horizontal velocity calculations.