NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Research Articles

Enhancing Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Images via Multi-Frame Super Resolution for Future Robotic Space Missions

This paper presents a novel application of a Multi-frame Super Resolution (MFSR) method for lunar surface imagery called Lunar HighRes-net (L-HRN). In this work, we adapted and used NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) image database to train the Deep Learning architecture for image super resolution. Additionally, we also gathered an artificial image dataset from our virtual Moon to improve the amount of input data in the neural network training process. The network's architecture follows a standard MFSR algorithm that was enhanced for this specific use case. The proposed MFSR method has been evaluated using the well-known peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) metric against other generic super-resolution methods of the state of the art. This work aims to improve environmental knowledge about the lunar surface to enhance future autonomous robots capabilities on the surface of the Moon.

A neural process approach for probabilistic reconstruction of no-data gaps in lunar digital elevation maps

With the advent of NASA's lunar reconnaissance orbiter (LRO), a large amount of high-resolution digital elevation maps (DEMs) have been constructed by using narrow-angle cameras (NACs) to characterize the Moon's surface. However, NAC DEMs commonly contain no-data gaps (voids), which makes the map less reliable. To resolve the issue, this paper provides a deep-learning-based framework for the probabilistic reconstruction of no-data gaps in NAC DEMs. The framework is built upon a state-of-the-art stochastic process model, attentive neural processes (ANP), and predicts the conditional distribution of elevation on the target coordinates (latitude and longitude) conditioned on the observed elevation data in nearby regions. Furthermore, this paper proposes sparse attentive neural processes (SANPs) that not only reduce the linear computational complexity of the ANP O(N) to the constant complexity O(K) but enhance the reconstruction performance by preventing over-fitting and over-smoothing problems. The proposed method is evaluated on three different lunar NAC DEMs with distinct geographical features, including the anthropogenic site, graben, and craterlet, demonstrating that the suggested approach successfully reconstructs no-data gaps with an uncertainty analysis while preserving the high-resolution of original NAC DEMs.

Planetary science: Moon churn.

Emerson Speyerer and co-authors use 14,092 temporal ('before and after') image pairs obtained by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to quantify the contemporary crater-production rate on the Moon. They identify broad reflectance zones associated with the new craters that they interpret as evidence of a surface-bound jetting process, and estimate that this secondary cratering process is churning the top of the regolith much faster than previously thought.

Analysis of one-way laser ranging data to LRO, time transfer and clock characterization

We processed and analyzed one-way laser ranging data from International Laser Ranging Service ground stations to NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), obtained from June 13, 2009 until September 30, 2014.We pair and analyze the one-way range observables from station laser fire and spacecraft laser arrival times by using nominal LRO orbit models based on the GRAIL gravity field. We apply corrections for instrument range walk, as well as for atmospheric and relativistic effects.In total we derived a tracking data volume of ≈ 3000 hours featuring 64 million Full Rate and 1.5 million Normal Point observations. From a statistical analysis of the dataset we evaluate the experiment and the ground station performance. We observe a laser ranging measurement precision of 12.3cm in case of the Full Rate data which surpasses the LOLA timestamp precision of 15cm. The averaging to Normal Point data further reduces the measurement precision to 5.6cm.We characterized the LRO clock with fits throughout the mission time and estimated the rate to 6.9 × 10−8, the aging to 1.6 × 10−12/day and the change of aging to 2.3 × 10−14 /day2over all mission phases. The fits also provide referencing of onboard time to the TDB time scale at a precision of 166ns over two and 256ns over all mission phases, representing ground to space time transfer. Furthermore we measure ground station clock differences from the fits as well as from simultaneous passes which we use for ground to ground time transfer from common view observations. We observed relative offsets ranging from 33 to 560ns and relative rates ranging from 2 × 10−13 to 6 × 10−12 between the ground station clocks during selected mission phases. We study the results from the different methods and discuss their applicability for time transfer.

Demonstration of orbit determination for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter using one-way laser ranging data

We used one-way laser ranging data from International Laser Ranging Service (ILRS) ground stations to NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) for a demonstration of orbit determination.In the one-way setup, the state of LRO and the parameters of the spacecraft and all involved ground station clocks must be estimated simultaneously. This setup introduces many correlated parameters that are resolved by using a priori constraints. Moreover the observation data coverage and errors accumulating from the dynamical and the clock modeling limit the maximum arc length.The objective of this paper is to investigate the effect of the arc length, the dynamical and modeling accuracy and the observation data coverage on the accuracy of the results.We analyzed multiple arcs using lengths of 2 and 7 days during a one-week period in Science Mission phase 02 (SM02, November 2010) and compared the trajectories, the post-fit measurement residuals and the estimated clock parameters. We further incorporated simultaneous passes from multiple stations within the observation data to investigate the expected improvement in positioning. The estimated trajectories were compared to the nominal LRO trajectory and the clock parameters (offset, rate and aging) to the results found in the literature.Arcs estimated with one-way ranging data had differences of 5–30m compared to the nominal LRO trajectory. While the estimated LRO clock rates agreed closely with the a priori constraints, the aging parameters absorbed clock modeling errors with increasing clock arc length. Because of high correlations between the different ground station clocks and due to limited clock modeling accuracy, their differences only agreed at the order of magnitude with the literature. We found that the incorporation of simultaneous passes requires improved modeling in particular to enable the expected improvement in positioning. We found that gaps in the observation data coverage over 12h (≈6 successive LRO orbits) prevented the successful estimation of arcs with lengths shorter or longer than 2 or 7 days with our given modeling.

Effects of varying environmental conditions on emissivity spectra of bulk lunar soils: Application to Diviner thermal infrared observations of the Moon

Currently, few thermal infrared measurements exist of fine particulate (<63 µm) analogue samples (e.g. minerals, mineral mixtures, rocks, meteorites, and lunar soils) measured under simulated lunar conditions. Such measurements are fundamental for interpreting thermal infrared (TIR) observations by the Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment (Diviner) onboard NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter as well as future TIR observations of the Moon and other airless bodies. In this work, we present thermal infrared emissivity measurements of a suite of well-characterized Apollo lunar soils and a fine particulate (<25 µm) San Carlos olivine sample as we systematically vary parameters that control the near-surface environment in our vacuum chamber (atmospheric pressure, incident solar-like radiation, and sample cup temperature). The atmospheric pressure is varied between ambient (1000mbar) and vacuum (<10−3mbar) pressures, the incident solar-like radiation is varied between 52 and 146mW/cm2, and the sample cup temperature is varied between 325 and 405K. Spectral changes are characterized as each parameter is varied, which highlight the sensitivity of thermal infrared emissivity spectra to the atmospheric pressure and the incident solar-like radiation. Finally spectral measurements of Apollo 15 and 16 bulk lunar soils are compared with Diviner thermal infrared observations of the Apollo 15 and 16 sampling sites. This comparison allows us to constrain the temperature and pressure conditions that best simulate the near-surface environment of the Moon for future laboratory measurements and to better interpret lunar surface compositions as observed by Diviner.

Impact Ejecta Characterization for Small-Sized Fresh and Degraded Lunar Craters Using Radar Data

Ejecta distribution studies for large-sized (>10 km) lunar craters have been carried out earlier, but simi-lar studies on smaller craters are lacking mainly due to data resolution limitations. Here we present a de-tailed quantification on spatial deposition of ejecta for small-sized lunar craters (<6 km). Using data from Mini RF instrument on-board NASA's Lunar Recon-naissance Orbiter, four Stokes parameters that differ-entiate and describe the observed backscattered electromagnetic field are calculated. We use the first Stokes parameter to investigate and estimate the spa-tial ejecta distribution for 98 small-sized fresh and de-graded craters from mare and highland regions. It is observed that ejecta distribution can be described using power law with crater diameter and depth/ diameter (d/D) ratio. Ejecta behaviour is analysed for both the terrain types, highland and mare, enabling us to understand the effect and dependency of target rock properties on the ejecta characteristics. Further, the d/D dependence has indicated that the relative de-gradation rate appears higher for highland region compared to mare region.

Bistatic radar observations of the Moon using Mini-RF on LRO and the Arecibo Observatory

The Miniature Radio Frequency (Mini-RF) instrument aboard NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is a hybrid dual-polarized synthetic aperture radar (SAR) that operated in concert with the Arecibo Observatory to collect bistatic radar data of the lunar nearside from 2012 to 2015. The purpose of this bistatic campaign was to characterize the radar scattering properties of the surface and near-surface, as a function of bistatic angle, for a variety of lunar terrains and search for a coherent backscatter opposition effect indicative of the presence of water ice. A variety of lunar terrain types were sampled over a range of incidence and bistatic angles; including mare, highland, pyroclastic, crater ejecta, and crater floor materials. Responses consistent with an opposition effect were observed for the ejecta of several Copernican-aged craters and the floor of the south-polar crater Cabeus. The responses of ejecta material varied by crater in a manner that suggests a relationship with crater age. The response for Cabeus was observed within the portion of its floor that is not in permanent shadow. The character of the response differs from that of crater ejecta and appears unique with respect to all other lunar terrains observed. Analysis of data for this region suggests that the unique nature of the response may indicate the presence of near-surface deposits of water ice.

Parched on the moon? Just let the sun shine

A lunar lasts a month, so the water molecules have a lot of time to accumulate. Tim Livengood of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt MD wondered how much drinkable water people could collect if they setup a solar-powered distillery to catch the morning frost. Using data taken between 2009 and 2011 by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, Livengood calculates that the frost build-up at the terminator would be just under 0.2 millimeters thick--enough to yield about 190 milliliters of water per square meter per lunar day with a suitable set-up.

Update on Radiation Dose From Galactic and Solar Protons at the Moon Using the LRO/CRaTER Microdosimeter

The NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has been exploring the lunar surface and radiation environment since June 2009. In Mazur et al. [2011] we discussed the first 6months of mission data from a microdosimeter that is housed within the Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation (CRaTER) instrument onboard LRO. The CRaTER microdosimeter is an early version of what is now a commercially available hybrid that accurately measures total ionizing radiation dose in a silicon target (http://www.teledynemicro.com/product/radiationdosimeter). This brief report updates the transition from a deep solar minimum radiation environment to the current weak solar maximum as witnessed with the microdosimeter. The Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation (CRaTER) microdosimeter is behind about 4.4 g/cm equivalent aluminum, corresponding to the range of ~55MeV protons. Energetic protons are the dominant source of ionizing radiation at the Moon. The measured dose includes contributions from the low-energy part of the galactic cosmic ray proton spectrum and the high-energy portion of typical solar energetic particle events. Figure 1 is the history to date of the total ionizing dose averaged over 12 h intervals. The figure includes the entire Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) orbital history that ranged from ~50 km circular tomore elliptical orbits with aposelene above ~150 km. We did not correct the observed dose rate for the changing amount of solid angle blocked by the Moon in Figure 1 as one would need to do to derive an interplanetary rate. When averaged over 12 h, the variations among the various orbit modes have less than a 5% and 20% effect on the galactic cosmic ray dose rate and peak solar proton dose rate, respectively.

AUTOMATIC REGISTRATION, INTEGRATION AND ENHANCEMENT OF INDIA'S CHANDRAYAAN-1 IMAGES WITH NASA'S LRO MAPS

Chandrayaan-1 was India's first mission in deep space exploration to the moon. Its Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC) sent images of about 50% of total lunar surface in its limited lifetime and covered polar areas almost completely at a high resolution of 5m/pixel and 10m/pixel. This image dataset has been processed and put in public domain as individual strips of images categorized according to the orbits. The authors have already developed a Lunar GIS including a set of utilities like 3-D vision and exploration, crater detection and search using datasets from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Wide Angle Camera (WAC) which are of lower resolution than CH1. The objective of this paper is to normalize and register the Chandrayaan-1 images to existing processed data so that all these utilities can be transparently applied to high resolution Chandrayaan-1 datasets. Registration process consists of identification of features in source and target images and estimating appropriate correction for offset, rotation and scaling parameters. Furthermore, due to the low altitude orbit of satellite, the acquired images have displacement of pixels from actual nadir position, which need non-linear correction. This paper describes step by step technique to integrate these high and low resolution images in single framework.

The Miniature Radio Frequency instrument’s (Mini-RF) global observations of Earth’s Moon

Radar provides a unique means to analyze the surface and subsurface physical properties of geologic deposits, including their wavelength-scale roughness, the relative depth of the deposits, and some limited compositional information. The NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter’s (LRO) Miniature Radio Frequency (Mini-RF) instrument has enabled these analyses on the Moon at a global scale. Mini-RF has accumulated ∼67% coverage of the lunar surface in S-band (12.6cm) radar with a resolution of 30m/pixel. Here we present new Mini-RF global orthorectified uncontrolled S-band maps of the Moon and use them for analysis of lunar surface physical properties. Reported here are readily apparent global- and regional-scale differences in lunar surface physical properties that suggest three distinct terranes, namely: a (1) Nearside Radar Dark Region; (2) Orientale basin and continuous ejecta; and the (3) Highlands Radar Bright Region. Integrating these observations with new data from LRO’s Diviner Radiometer rock abundance maps, as well Clementine and Lunar Prospector derived compositional values show multiple distinct lunar surface terranes and sub-terranes based upon both physical and compositional surface properties. Previous geochemical investigations of the Moon suggested its crust is best divided into three to four basic crustal provinces or terranes (Feldspathic Highlands Terrane (-An and -Outer), Procellarum KREEP Terrane, and South Pole Aitken Terrane) that are distinct from one another. However, integration of these geochemical data sets with new geophysical data sets allows us to refine these terranes. The result shows a more complex view of these same crustal provinces and provides valuable scientific and hazard perspectives for future targeted human and robotic exploration.

Integration of Chang'E-2 imagery and LRO laser altimeter data with a combined block adjustment for precision lunar topographic modeling

Lunar topographic information is essential for lunar scientific investigations and exploration missions. Lunar orbiter imagery and laser altimeter data are two major data sources for lunar topographic modeling. Most previous studies have processed the imagery and laser altimeter data separately for lunar topographic modeling, and there are usually inconsistencies between the derived lunar topographic models. This paper presents a novel combined block adjustment approach to integrate multiple strips of the Chinese Chang'E-2 imagery and NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Laser Altimeter (LOLA) data for precision lunar topographic modeling. The participants of the combined block adjustment include the orientation parameters of the Chang'E-2 images, the intra-strip tie points derived from the Chang'E-2 stereo images of the same orbit, the inter-strip tie points derived from the overlapping area of two neighbor Chang'E-2 image strips, and the LOLA points. Two constraints are incorporated into the combined block adjustment including a local surface constraint and an orbit height constraint, which are specifically designed to remedy the large inconsistencies between the Chang'E-2 and LOLA data sets. The output of the combined block adjustment is the improved orientation parameters of the Chang'E-2 images and ground coordinates of the LOLA points, from which precision lunar topographic models can be generated. The performance of the developed approach was evaluated using the Chang'E-2 imagery and LOLA data in the Sinus Iridum area and the Apollo 15 landing area. The experimental results revealed that the mean absolute image residuals between the Chang'E-2 image strips were drastically reduced from tens of pixels before the adjustment to sub-pixel level after adjustment. Digital elevation models (DEMs) with 20 m resolution were generated using the Chang'E-2 imagery after the combined block adjustment. Comparison of the Chang'E-2 DEM with the LOLA DEM showed a good level of consistency. The developed combined block adjustment approach is of significance for the full comparative and synergistic use of lunar topographic data sets from different sensors and different missions.

Moonbeams by the megabyte

Last March, a laser-ranging system on the United States' East Coast beamed a tiny image of the Mona Lisa to NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. The transmission, which reached the spacecraft while it was in orbit around the moon, was just a trickle of data by Earth standards, topping out at 300 bits per second.

Numerical modelling of impact crater formation associated with isolated lunar skylight candidates on lava tubes

Skylights are openings on subsurface voids as lava tubes and caves. Recently deep hole structures, possibly skylights, were discovered on lunar photo images by the JAXA SELenological and ENgineering Explorer (SELENE)-Kaguya mission, and successively confirmed by the NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission. Vertical hole structures and possibly underlying subsurface voids have high potential as resources for scientific study, and future unmanned and manned activities on the Moon. One mechanism proposed for their formation is impact cratering. The collapse of craters is due to the back spallation phenomena on the rear surface of the lava tube roofs. Previous analysis in this topic was based on small-scales laboratory experiments. These have pointed out that (i) the target thickness-to-crater diameter ratio is 0.7, and (ii) the projectile diameter-to-target thickness ratio is 0.16, at the ballistic limit once extrapolated to planetary conditions.We investigate the impact process that might trigger the formation of lunar skylight candidates by numerically simulate the craters associated to the observed hole structures. The Marius Hills hole (MHh, located in a 26m thick target) was formed by a 4m projectile, which originated an impact crater of 40.0±1.6m in diameter. The Mare Tranquillitatis hole (MTh, located in a 47m thick target) was formed by a 7.2m projectile, which originated an impact crater of 75.6±3.0m in diameter. The target thickness-to-crater diameter ratio is 0.65 and 0.62, respectively for MHh and MTh. These values are smaller than the laboratory experiment ballistic limit ratio (0.7), supporting the hypothesis of collapse at the studied sites. The projectile diameter-to-target thickness ratio is 0.15 for both MHh and MTh, which is slightly smaller than we expected. The discrepancy could be due to the model assumption of vertical impact. We derived via modelling the ballistic limit for planetary scales and found that the target thickness-to-crater diameter ratio is 0.87.We discuss the implications of the proposed scenario for skylight formation in terms of future robotic or human exploration of the Moon, as evaluated in COSPAR and ILEWG.

Near‐Real‐Time Situational Awareness of Space Radiation Hazards

Galactic cosmic rays and solar energetic particles (SEPs) present formidable radiation hazards [e.g., Cucinotta et al., 2010] for human and robotic operations beyond low Earth orbit (LEO). As new plans are conceived for human exploration beyond LEO, these space radiation hazards create critical needs for accurate situational awareness. A new near-real-time tool called PREDICCS (Predictions of Radiation From REleASE, EMMREM, and Data Incorporating the CRaTER, COSTEP, and Other SEP Measurements, http://prediccs.sr.unh.edu) provides the first online system for predicting and forecasting the radiation environment in near-Earth, lunar, and Martian space environments. PREDICCS integrates a host of near-real-time measurements being made by satellites currently in space with numerical models (e.g., EMMREM [Schwadron et al., 2010]) to determine radiation doses and dose equivalents that characterize biological impacts and energetic particle propagation codes that can accurately project radiation levels through the inner solar system and out to Mars. PREDICCS provides updates of the radiation environment on an hourly basis and archives the data weekly, monthly, and yearly to provide a clear historical record of the space radiation environment. The PREDICCS tool provides in-depth data to characterize how hazardous SEP events are throughout the solar cycle, provides detailed information on how often large events that have significant risk associated with them are likely to be observed, and facilitates comparison of the near-Earth and lunar radiation environments to that near Mars. As an example, Table 1 shows the lens doses (in centigrays; 1 centigray = 1 rad) and dose equivalents (in centisieverts; 1 centisievert = 1 rem) for full-sphere radiation exposure from PREDICCS over the last 12 months. The PREDICCS lens dose quantifies the energy per mass deposited in 1 gram per square centimeter of water, which is a proxy for the biological impact to the human eye. Large SEP events on 23 January 2012, on 27 March 2012, and in the summer of 2012 contributed significantly to the hazards of the space environment over this interval. We observe that the dose rate limit of 200 centigrays for the lens dose [Cucinotta et al., 2010] is exceeded for nominal spacecraft shielding. Among the satellite measurements used by PREDICCS are data from the Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation (CRaTER) instrument on NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter [Spence et al., 2010]. For the SEP events of 23 January (Figure 1) and 27 March 2012, PREDICCS results are typically within 20%-30% of what CRaTER observed. These highly accurate comparisons have never before been available over such long periods of time. CRaTER not only provides validation that PREDICCS models are accurate but also directly measures the biological impacts of radiation by observing linear energy transfer spectra behind different thicknesses of tissue-equivalent plastic [Spence et al., 2010]. Accurate assessment of the biological impacts of space radiation is vital to fully characterizing the radiation hazards of the space environment. The near-real-time situational awareness provided by PREDICCs will help to enable future human space exploration endeavors, including a return to the Moon and possible missions to Mars. Nathan Schwadron is an associate professor at the University of New Hampshire and the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space. His email is n.schwadron@unh.edu.

Lunar atmospheric helium detections by the LAMP UV spectrograph on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

The LAMP far ultraviolet spectrograph aboard the NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has been used in 2011 to search for helium, the lightest noble gas in the tenuous lunar atmosphere. Based on that search, we report here the first detection of lunar atmospheric He by remote sensing, and point to future observations that can address questions about its source; we also discuss a search for lunar atmospheric argon.

Testing lunar permanently shadowed regions for water ice: LEND results from LRO

We use measurements from the Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector (LEND) collimated sensors during more than one year of the mapping phase of NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission to make estimates of the epithermal neutron flux within known large Permanently Shadowed Regions (PSRs). These are compared with the local neutron background measured outside PSRs in sunlit regions. Individual and collective analyses of PSR properties have been performed. Only three large PSRs, Shoemaker and Cabeus in the south and Rozhdestvensky U in the north, have been found to manifest significant neutron suppression. All other PSRs have much smaller suppression, only a few percent, if at all. Some even display an excess of neutron emission in comparison to the sunlit vicinity around them. Testing PSRs collectively, we have not found any average suppression for them. Only the group of 18 large PSRs, with area &gt;200 km2, show a marginal effect of small average suppression, ∼2%, with low statistical confidence. A ∼2% suppression corresponds to ∼125 ppm of hydrogen taking into account the global neutron suppression near the lunar poles and assuming a homogeneous H distribution in depth in the regolith. This means that all PSRs, except those in Shoemaker, Cabeus and Rozhdestvensky U craters, do not contain any significant amount of hydrogen in comparison with sunlit areas around them at the same latitude.

Statistics for orbital neutron spectroscopy of the Moon and other airless planetary bodies

A rigorous statistical approach is presented to address the shortcomings inherent in the analysis of counting experiments such as orbital neutron spectroscopy endeavors. Unlike the quasi‐Gaussian statistics commonly applied to such investigations, the methodology described here incorporates fundamental elements of Poisson statistics including its inherent nature as a bounded, discrete, and intrinsically asymmetric probability distribution. In addition, we utilize the proper statistical formulae required to describe the data following background subtraction. Utilizing the Likelihood Ratio Method for hypothesis testing, we find that analyses utilizing collimated instruments such as the Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector (LEND) aboard NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter overestimate detection significances by , under the assumption that collimator effectiveness as asserted by the LEND team is correct. This in turn implies that the required exposure times must be ∼2× longer to reach prelaunch sensitivity estimates. We provide updated estimates for hydrogen abundance sensitivity limits as a function of exposure time and compare the sensitivities of collimated (i.e., background subtracted) and uncollimated approaches.

Thermal infrared emissivity measurements under a simulated lunar environment: Application to the Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment

We present new laboratory thermal infrared emissivity spectra of the major silicate minerals identified on the Moon measured under lunar environmental conditions and evaluate their application to lunar remote sensing data sets. Thermal infrared spectral changes between ambient and lunar environmental conditions are characterized for the first time over the 400∼1700 cm−1 (6–25 μm) spectral range for a fine‐particulate mineral suite including plagioclase (albite and anorthite), pyroxene (enstatite and augite), and olivine (forsterite). The lunar environment introduces observable effects in thermal infrared emissivity spectra of fine particulate minerals, which include: (1) a shift in the Christiansen feature (CF) position to higher wave numbers (shorter wavelengths), (2) an increase in the overall spectral contrast, and (3) decreases in the spectral contrast of the reststrahlen bands and transparency features. Our new measurements demonstrate the high sensitivity of thermal infrared emissivity spectra to environmental conditions under which they are measured and provide important constraints for interpreting new thermal infrared data sets of the Moon, including the Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment onboard NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Full resolution laboratory mineral spectra convolved to Diviner's three spectral channels show that spectral shape, CF position and band ratios can be used to distinguish between individual mineral groups and lunar lithologies. The integration of the thermal infrared CF position with near infrared spectral parameters allows for robust mineralogical identifications and provides a framework for future integrations of data sets across two different wavelength regimes.