Photogrammetric analysis of Clementine multi-look angle images obtained near Mare Orientale

A local control point network and a DTM (Digital Terrain Model) are derived form Clementine UVVIS multi-look angle images that were obtained on April 30, 1994, covering a small region of the Lunar Orientale Basin (19.5°S to 15°S and 84.5°W to 86.0°W). The nominal camera pointing and spacecraft trajectory data were photogrammetrically adjusted, a procedure which was found to improve estimates of the coordinates of 41 control points significantly to an internally consistent accuracy of 30m in the horizontal and 50m in the height direction. The terrain model correlates well with features identified in the image data, two craters, volcanic constructs, and the dark lava-filled Lacus Veris, located in a topographic depression. The terrain model indicates a steep 2000m drop in elevation within a range of only 6-8km towards the center of Orientale. Further studies of the lunar topography in this particular region using Clementine stereo data seem well warranted and feasible.