Analysis of Long-Term Moon-Based Observation Characteristics for Arctic and Antarctic

Abstract

The Antarctic and Arctic have always been critical areas of earth science research and are sensitive to global climate change. Global climate change exhibits diversity characteristics on both temporal and spatial scales. Since the Moon-based earth observation platform could provide large-scale, multi-angle, and long-term measurements complementary to the satellite-based Earth observation data, it is necessary to study the observation characteristics of this new platform. With deepening understanding of Moon-based observations, we have seen its good observation ability in the middle and low latitudes of the Earth’s surface, but for polar regions, we need to further study the observation characteristics of this platform. Based on the above objectives, we used the Moon-based Earth observation geometric model to quantify the geometric relationship between the Sun, Moon, and Earth. Assuming the sensor is at the center of the nearside of the Moon, the coverage characteristics of the earth feature points are counted. The observation intervals, access frequency, and the angle information of each point during 100 years were obtained, and the variation rule was analyzed. The research showed that the lunar platform could carry out ideal observations for the polar regions. For the North and South poles, a continuous observation duration of 14.5 days could be obtained, and as the latitude decreased, the duration time was reduced to less than one day at the latitude of 65° in each hemisphere. The dominant observation time of the North Pole is concentrated from mid-March to mid-September, and for the South Pole, it is the rest of the year, and as the latitude decreases, it extends outward from both sides. The annual coverage time and frequency will change with the relationship between the Moon and the Earth. This study also proves that the Moon-based observation has multi-angle observation advantages for the Arctic and the Antarctic areas, which can help better understand large-scale geoscientific phenomena. The above findings indicate that the Moon-based observation can be applied as a new type of remote sensing technology to the observation field of the Earth’s polar regions.

Spatio-Temporal Characteristics for Moon-Based Earth Observations

“…This contrasts with Ren et al [20] and Ye et al [21], whose geometry models do not consider the effects of minimum elevation angle to the spatial coverage, and the positions of their Moon-based sensor satisfy the condition of observing one point on the Earth rather than the entire hemisphere of the Earth. In addition, Wang et al [34] and Sui et al [35] also discusses the observation characteristics of a Moon-based platform, but they concentrate on the polar regions and Moon-based sensors located in certain places; thus, the two distinct lines as shown in Figure 7 are not found in their study. Our work focuses on Earth hemispheric observations, including polar regions, and sensors anywhere on the lunar intervisible spherical cap can achieve hemispheric observations.…”

Influence of Topography on the Site Selection of a Moon-Based Earth Observation Station

“…For a DEM grid, the azimuth angle of the surrounding point k to the center point O in MSC is expressed as ϑ k in Equation (7).…”

“…Existing studies have revealed that Moon-based Earth observation provides longevity, integrity, and stability advantages over satellites in observing the solid Earth tide, global energy budget, climate and environmental change, and even the near-Earth space environment [5,6]. Furthermore, Moon-based Earth observation is unique in its ability to monitor phenomena related to Earth-Moon interaction [7,8]. Due to the advantages and uniqueness of Moon-based Earth observation, a broadband radiometer and an array spectrometer will be settled on the lunar surface to conduct a long-term Earth radiation budget experiment in this decade [9,10].…”

Current Status of Remoting Sensing Application

“…Various types of earth observation satellites, space stations, deep space probes, and other artificial equipment have been successfully launched into international space since the 1960s, and a number of satellite earth observation programs have been implemented [5]. Climate change, resource and environmental change detection, and disaster risk reduction and prevention have all benefited from the use of aviation and aerospace earth observation applications.…”