Which way is the bookstore? A closer look at the judgments of relative directions task

We present a detailed analysis of a widely used assay in human spatial cognition, the judgments of relative direction (JRD) task. We conducted three experiments involving virtual navigation interspersed with the JRD task, and included confidence judgments and map drawing as additional metrics. We also present a technique for assessing the similarity of the cognitive representations underlying performance on the JRD and map-drawing tasks. Our results support the construct validity of the JRD task and its connection to allocentric representation. Additionally, we found that chance performance on the JRD task depends on the distribution of the angles of participants’ responses, rather than being constant and 90 degrees. Accordingly, we present a method for better determining chance performance.     

Characterization of lunar soils through spectral features extraction in the NIR

Recently launched hyper-spectral instrumentation with ever-increasing data return capabilities deliver the remote-sensing data to characterize planetary soils with increased precision, thus generating the need to classify the returned data in an efficient way for further specialized analysis and detection of features of interest. This paper investigates how lunar near-infrared spectra generated by the SIR-2 on Chandrayaan-1 can be classified into distinctive groups of similar spectra with automated feature extraction algorithms. As common spectral parameters for the SIR-2 spectra, two absorption features near 1300 nm and 2000 and their characteristics provide 10 variables which are used in two different unsupervised clustering methods, the mean-shift clustering algorithm and the recently developed graph cut-based clustering algorithm by Müller et al. (2012). The spectra used in this paper were taken on the lunar near side centering around the Imbrium region of the Moon. More than 100,000 spectra were analyzed.     

The Be stars

Classical Be stars are defined and their relationship to normal B-type stars stated. Spectral classification of the underlying stars suggests that, on the average, Be stars are located 0.5–1.0 magnitude above the main sequence. Struve's rotational model for Be stars, and several tests which support the model, are reviewed. The best evidence at this time suggests that Be stars may not rotate with the critical velocity at which centrifugal force just balances the equatorial gravitational force, but a number of mechanisms for getting material out into the shell have been proposed and are discussed.The physical characteristics of Be shells were first derived from optical observations of shell stars, supplemented more recently by ultraviolet, infrared, radio, and polarization measurements. These data suggest that Be shells are probably lenticular with radii 3 to 20 times the radius of the underlying star, excitation temperatures lower than those of the reversing layers, and electron densities in the range 10¹⁰-10¹³ cm^-3.Variability of Be stars, from spectroscopic, photometric, and polarimetric observations, seems well established over time scales of years and months, but the evidence for night-to-night and hourly changes is somewhat conflicting. Of special interest are recent X-ray observations of several Be stars.Models for the envelopes of Be stars are reviewed, including state-state stellar wind models, time-dependent stellar wind models, the elliptical ring model, disk models, and binary models. Finally, the evolutionary status of Be stars is discussed, and some recommendations for future work made.     

Construction of lunar DEMs based on reflectance modelling

Existing lunar DEMs obtained based on laser altimetry or photogrammetric image analysis are characterised by high large-scale accuracies while their lateral resolution is strongly limited by noise or interpolation artifacts. In contrast, image-based photometric surface reconstruction approaches reveal small-scale surface detail but become inaccurate on large spatial scales. The framework proposed in this study therefore combines photometric image information of high lateral resolution and DEM data of comparably low lateral resolution in order to obtain DEMs of high lateral resolution which are also accurate on large spatial scales. Our first approach combines an extended photoclinometry scheme and a shape from shading based method. A novel variational surface reconstruction method further increases the lateral resolution of the DEM such that it reaches that of the underlying images. We employ the Hapke IMSA and AMSA reflectance models with two different formulations of the single-particle scattering function, such that the single-scattering albedo of the surface particles and optionally the asymmetry parameter of the single-particle scattering function can be estimated pixel-wise. As our DEM construction methods require co-registered images, an illumination-independent image registration scheme is developed. An evaluation of our framework based on synthetic image data yields an average elevation accuracy of the constructed DEMs of better than 20 m as long as the correct reflectance model is assumed. When comparing our DEMs to LOLA single track data, absolute elevation accuracies around 30 m are obtained for test regions that cover an elevation range of several thousands of metres. The proposed illumination-independent image registration method yields subpixel accuracy even in the presence of 3D perspective distortions. The pixel-wise reflectance parameters estimated simultaneously with the DEM reflect compositional contrasts between different surface units. Specifically, the detected variations of the parameter of the single-particle scattering function indicate small-scale variations of the regolith particle size, possibly as a result of differences in soil maturity.     

Hybrid method for crater detection based on topography reconstruction from optical images and the new LU78287GT catalogue of Lunar impact craters

Impact craters are ubiquitous and well-studied structures of high geological relevance on the surfaces of the Earth’s Moon, the terrestrial planets, the asteroids and the satellites of the outer planets. Therefore, it is not surprising that crater detection algorithms (CDAs) are one of the most studied subjects of image processing and analysis in lunar and planetary science. In this paper we are proposing a Hybrid CDA: a modified DEM (digital elevation map) reconstruction method used as a step in an existing CDA based on Hough transform. The new Hybrid CDA consists of: (1) reconstruction of topography from optical images using a shape from shading approach; (2) utilization of the DEM-based CDA; (3) correction of brightness and contrast of optical images used in order to be more suitable for evaluation of detections. An additional result of this work is a new method for evaluation of topography reconstruction algorithms, using a DEM-based CDA and an earlier approach for evaluation of CDAs. The new Hybrid CDA was tested using two Chandrayaan-1 Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M³) images and two excerpts of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Wide Angle Camera (WAC) global optical image mosaic. As a result, the number of craters inside these four regions increased considerably from 1754 (as available in the previous LU60645GT catalogue) to 19 396 craters (as available in the resulting new LU78287GT catalogue). This confirmed the practical applicability of the new Hybrid CDA, which can be used in order to considerably extend current crater catalogues.