Shape characteristics-based extraction of lunar impact craters: using DEM from the Chang'E-1 satellite as a data source

Abstract

The study of lunar surface characteristics has been one of the key tasks during lunar exploration in the past several decades. Impact craters, the most typical geomorphic unit and the most basic geomorphologic shape on the lunar surface, have been greatly concerned in the study of lunar surface topographical and morphologic characteristics. To date, there have been numerous achievements in the identification of impact craters using remote-sensing images; while there have been a limited number of studies on the identification of impact craters using digital elevation model (DEM). Based on the analysis of the morphological characteristics of lunar impact craters, including the horizontal and vertical structures, this article introduces a lunar impact crater extraction algorithm. Using the DEM data from Chang'E-1 as its test data, the extraction results show that the proposed algorithm can accurately and efficiently identify the spatial location and quantity of impact craters.