Thermophysical Features of Shallow Lunar Crust Demonstrated by Typical Copernican Craters Using CE-2 CELMS Data

2019 
Chang'E lunar microwave sounder (CELMS) data provide a potential way to understand the thermophysical features of the shallow lunar crust. In this study, four typical Copernican craters, including Copernicus, Aristarchus, Tycho, and Jackson, have been selected and their brightness temperature $(T_{B})$ performances are evaluated with the CE-2 CELMS data. The results are as follows. First, the hot $T_{B}$ anomaly is reunderstood according to the $T_{B}$ behaviors. The cause to the anomaly is still in doubt, and we rule out the previous explanations as rock abundance or topography. Second, the existence of the cold anomaly indicates the shallow lunar crust is likely much colder than what we knew. Third, the $T_{B}$ performances indicate that the shallow lunar crust is likely homogeneous, and the materials here have very low (FeO+TiO2) abundance and thermal inertia. Also, the difference of the $T_{B}$ performances from the crater floors to far distance will provide a new constraint for the cratering formation study.
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