arushisinha98/lunar

Lacus Mortis Diviner T-BOL Dataset (Enhanced Level-4 Product)

Dataset Summary

This dataset contains bolometric brightness temperature (T-BOL) measurements of the lunar surface in the Lacus Mortis region, derived from observations by the Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.

The data represent Level-4 processed thermal products where Diviner observations have been spatially binned and grouped by local lunar time. The dataset includes an enhanced maximum temperature product that mitigates artifacts caused by incomplete local-time coverage.

The dataset is designed for use by researchers studying:

• lunar thermophysical properties
• regolith thermal inertia
• surface roughness and rock abundance
• diurnal temperature behavior

Region of Interest

The dataset focuses on Lacus Mortis, a basaltic plain on the northeastern near side of the Moon.

This region is of interest for studies of:

• mare volcanism
• mare–highland transitions
• thermophysical variations in lunar regolith

Dataset Description

Diviner observations have been processed into gridded longitude–latitude bins and separated into narrow local-time intervals. Each dataset file corresponds to a specific local lunar time slice.

Because the orbital sampling of Diviner does not uniformly cover all local times, some locations lack observations near peak daytime temperature. This affects direct estimates of maximum temperature.

To address this limitation, a model-based enhancement method is applied to estimate the expected maximum temperature at each grid location.

Enhanced Maximum Temperature Method

Directly using observed maximum temperatures can introduce striping artifacts in maps because:

• some locations lack measurements at the time of peak heating
• the observed maximum temperature may therefore be underestimated

The enhanced product addresses this by:

1. Normalizing temperatures by latitude.
2. Fitting a diurnal temperature model to available observations.
3. Predicting the expected peak temperature for each longitude–latitude bin.

This produces an enhanced maximum temperature dataset with reduced striping and more consistent spatial behavior.

Note that these peak values are model-derived estimates, not direct measurements.

File Format

All data are provided as ASCII .xyz files. Each row represents a grid cell with the following columns:

longitude latitude temperature

Where:

• longitude – lunar longitude (degrees)
• latitude – lunar latitude (degrees)
• temperature – bolometric brightness temperature (Kelvin)

Example:

33.25 45.50 312.6
33.25 45.75 311.9
33.50 45.50 314.1

Each filename denotes the time of data collection with data collected every 6 minutes, 00:00 to 23:54

Example:

lacus_mortis_tb_001.xyz
lacus_mortis_tb_002.xyz
lacus_mortis_tb_003.xyz
...

Where:

• tb = bolometric brightness temperature
• numeric indices correspond to local time slices

Each file contains temperature data for a specific local lunar time interval. Because the files are ASCII text, they can be easily read in many environments.

Known Limitations

Users should consider the following limitations:

• Spatial coverage varies due to orbital sampling.
• Local-time sampling is incomplete in some areas.
• Maximum temperature values may be model-derived estimates rather than direct measurements.
• The dataset represents gridded averages, not raw Diviner observations.
• Some files are missing due to unknown reasons in the data transfer.

Potential Applications

This dataset can support studies such as:

• lunar surface thermophysical modeling
• regolith thermal inertia estimation
• mapping diurnal temperature variation
• analysis of mare vs. highland thermal behavior

Source Mission and Instrument

The dataset originates from measurements by the Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment onboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been mapping the thermal environment of the Moon since 2009.

Citation

If you use this dataset, please cite the original mission and instrument: Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.

You should also cite this dataset repository.