Novel approach of crater detection by crater candidate region selection and matrix-pattern-oriented least squares support vector machine

Impacted craters are commonly found on the surface of planets, satellites, asteroids and other solar system bodies. In order to speed up the rate of constructing the database of craters, it is important to develop crater detection algorithms. This paper presents a novel approach to automatically detect craters on planetary surfaces. The approach contains two parts: crater candidate region selection and crater detection. In the first part, crater candidate region selection is achieved by Kanade-Lucas-Tomasi (KLT) detector. Matrix-pattern-oriented least squares support vector machine (MatLSSVM), as the matrixization version of least square support vector machine (SVM), inherits the advantages of least squares support vector machine (LSSVM), reduces storage space greatly and reserves spatial redundancies within each image matrix compared with general LSSVM. The second part of the approach employs MatLSSVM to design classifier for crater detection. Experimental results on the dataset which comprises 160 preprocessed image patches from Google Mars demonstrate that the accuracy rate of crater detection can be up to 88%. In addition, the outstanding feature of the approach introduced in this paper is that it takes resized crater candidate region as input pattern directly to finish crater detection. The results of the last experiment demonstrate that MatLSSVM-based classifier can detect crater regions effectively on the basis of KLT-based crater candidate region selection.     

行星表面陨石坑检测与匹配方法

 针对深空探测器光学导航技术的需要,提出了行星表面陨石坑导航路标的提取与匹配方法。陨石坑是行星表面最显著的地形特征,在光照条件下,陨石坑具有清晰的几何轮廓。结合光照方向,通过陨石坑边缘的检测、边缘配对以及形状参数拟合等处理实现陨石坑的提取。对检测出的陨石坑,基于平面二次曲线的几何不变特性,采用投票策略实现与陨石坑数据库的匹配,并设计陨石坑误匹配及失配的校正策略,从而有效地确定陨石坑在目标天体表面的全局位置。最后通过嫦娥一号获得的目表图像验证了所提方法的有效性和可行性。     

Optimal crater landmark selection based on optical navigation performance factors for planetary landing

Planetary craters are natural navigation landmarks that widely exist and are easily observed. Optical navigation based on crater landmarks has become an important autonomous navigation method for planetary landing. Due to the increase in observed crater landmarks and the limitation of onboard computation, the selection of good crater landmarks has gradually become a research hotspot in the field of landmark-based optical navigation. This paper designs a fast crater landmark selection method, which not only considers the configuration observability of crater subsets but also focuses on the influence on navigation performance arising from the measurement uncertainty and the matching confidence of craters, which is different from other landmark selection methods. The factor of measurement uncertainty, which is anisotropic, correlated and nonidentically distributed, is quantified and integrated into selection based on crater pairing detection and localization error evaluation. In addition, the concept of the crater matching confidence factor is introduced, which reflects the possibility of 2D projection measurements corresponding to 3D positions. Combined with the configuration observability factor, the crater landmark selection indicator is formed. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by Monte Carlo simulations.     

Cratering Records in the Inner Solar System in Relation to the Lunar Reference System

The well investigated size-frequency distributions (SFD) for lunar craters is used to estimate the SFD for projectiles which formed craters on terrestrial planets and on asteroids. The result shows the relative stability of these distributions during the past 4 Gyr. The derived projectile size-frequency distribution is found to be very close to the size-frequency distribution of Main-Belt asteroids as compared with the recent Spacewatch asteroid data and astronomical observations (Palomar-Leiden survey, IRAS data) as well as data from close-up imagery by space missions. It means that asteroids (or, more generally, collisionally evolved bodies) are the main component of the impactor family. Lunar crater chronology models of the authors published elsewhere are reviewed and refined by making use of refinements in the interpretation of radiometric ages and the improved lunar SFD. In this way, a unified cratering chronology model is established which can be used as a safe basis for modeling the impact chronology of other terrestrial planets, especially Mars.     

月面巡视机器人快速安全路径规划

为提高月面巡视机器人自主探测任务的效率及安全性,提出了一种基于月面数字高程地图的大范围自主探测快速安全路径规划算法。首先根据获取的月面数字高程地图设计了一种地形可通过性分析方法,并生成了欧几里得距离地图（EDM）为安全路径规划提供参考。然后针对A^*算法解决月面巡视探测问题时搜索速度慢、未考虑路径安全性的问题,提出了FSA^*算法,改进了A^*算法的搜索机制以适用于月面大范围路径的快速搜索,并结合EDM地图设计了一种安全启发式函数,可使生成路径尽量远离危险区域,提高了巡视机器人自主探测过程的安全性。最后选取月球艾特肯盆地区域作为仿真场景,验证了该算法的有效性。     

星际着陆自主障碍检测与规避技术

 为了在具有科学价值的复杂地形区域实现安全着陆,未来的星际着陆器必须具备自主障碍检测与规避的能力。从星际着陆导航传感器技术、自主障碍检测方法和自主障碍规避技术3个方面出发,对星际着陆自主障碍检测与规避技术进行较全面的分析和总结。首先,对适用于星际着陆自主障碍检测的各种主动式和被动式传感器的工作原理、优缺点进行较深入的阐述;接着,基于不同传感器的测量信息,对各种自主障碍检测方法的障碍检测能力、优缺点进行较详细的对比分析;然后,基于多信息融合的自主障碍检测方法,对安全着陆点选择的原则进行阐述;最后,对星际着陆自主障碍规避流程和适用于星际着陆自主障碍规避的制导控制方法进行较系统的总结。     

Expectations for Crater Size and Photometric Evolution from the Deep Impact Collision

The NASA Discovery Deep Impact mission involves a unique experiment designed to excavate pristine materials from below the surface of comet. In July 2005, the Deep Impact (DI) spacecraft, will release a 360 kg probe that will collide with comet 9P/Tempel 1. This collision will excavate pristine materials from depth and produce a crater whose size and appearance will provide fundamental insights into the nature and physical properties of the upper 20 to 40 m. Laboratory impact experiments performed at the NASA Ames Vertical Gun Range at NASA Ames Research Center were designed to assess the range of possible outcomes for a wide range of target types and impact angles. Although all experiments were performed under terrestrial gravity, key scaling relations and processes allow first-order extrapolations to Tempel 1. If gravity-scaling relations apply (weakly bonded particulate near-surface), the DI impact could create a crater 70 m to 140 m in diameter, depending on the scaling relation applied. Smaller than expected craters can be attributed either to the effect of strength limiting crater growth or to collapse of an unstable (deep) transient crater as a result of very high porosity and compressibility. Larger then expected craters could indicate unusually low density (< 0.3 g cm⁻³) or backpressures from expanding vapor. Consequently, final crater size or depth may not uniquely establish the physical nature of the upper 20 m of the comet. But the observed ejecta curtain angles and crater morphology will help resolve this ambiguity. Moreover, the intensity and decay of the impact “flash” as observed from Earth, space probes, or the accompanying DI flyby instruments should provide critical data that will further resolve ambiguities.     

Near Surface Stratigraphy and Regolith Production in Southwestern Elysium Planitia,Mars: Implications for Hesperian-Amazonian Terrains and the InSight Lander Mission

The presence of rocks in the ejecta of craters at the InSight landing site in southwestern Elysium Planitia indicates a strong, rock-producing unit at depth. A finer regolith above is inferred by the lack of rocks in the ejecta of 10-m-scale craters. This regolith should be penetrable by the mole of the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP³). An analysis of the size-frequency distribution (SFD) of 7988 rocky ejecta craters (RECs) across four candidate landing ellipses reveals that all craters >200 m in diameter and \({<}750 \pm 30\ \mbox{Ma}\) in age have boulder-sized rocks in their ejecta. The frequency of RECs however decreases significantly below this diameter (\(D\)), represented by a roll-off in the SFD slope. At \(30\ \text{m} < D < 200\ \text{m}\), the slope of the cumulative SFD declines to near zero at \(D < 30\ \text{m}\). Surface modification, resolution limits, or human counting error cannot account for the magnitude of this roll-off. Rather, a significant population of <200 m diameter fresh non-rocky ejecta craters (NRECs) here indicates the presence of a relatively fine-grained regolith that prevents smaller craters from excavating the strong rock-producing unit. Depth to excavation relationships and the REC size thresholds indicate the region is capped by a regolith that is almost everywhere 3 m thick but may be as thick as 12 to 18 m. The lower bound of the thickness range is independently confirmed by the depth to the inner crater in concentric or nested craters. The data indicate that 85% of the InSight landing region is covered by a regolith that is at least 3 m thick. The probability of encountering rockier material at depths >3 m by the HP³ however increases significantly due to the increase in boulder-size rocks in the lower regolith column, near the interface of the bedrock.     

Data mining as a foundation for science-enabling autonomy

In-situ exploration by spacecraft and planetary rovers will increasingly require knowledge "on demand" in the future as downlinlk constraints limit the amount of information that can be transmitted from these platforms back to Earth. Several on-board processing methods have the potential to significantly enhance scientific results in these settings. They include automatic detection Of natural satellites of planetary bodies, investigation of possible surface motions on planets and planetary moons, and directed acquisition Of scientific data by planetary rovers. The key ingpredient in all three cases is the need to process scientific data directly on-board, so that information can be rapidly provided to an automated spacecraft ex~ecutive and/or to ground-based Principal Inesiators (pis). We discuss, herein, recent developments in data mining technology that were designed initially for ground-based scientific data analysis. We then outline how these ideas can be migrated to on-board platforms to dramatically enhance the scientific capabilities of autonomous spacecraft.     

Deep Impact and the Origin and Evolution of Cometary Nuclei

The Deep Impact mission revealed many properties of comet Tempel 1, a typical comet from the Jupiter family in so far as any comet can be considered typical. In addition to the properties revealed by the impact itself, numerous properties were also discovered from observations prior to the impact just because they were the types of observations that had never been made before. The impact showed that the cometary nucleus was very weak at scales from the impactor diameter (～1 m) to the crater diameter (～100 m) and suggested that the strength was low at much smaller scales as well. The impact also showed that the cometary nucleus is extremely porous and that the ice was close to the surface but below a devolatilized layer with thickness of order the impactor diameter. The ambient observations showed a huge range of topography, implying ubiquitous layering on many spatial scales, frequent (more than once a week) natural outbursts, many of them correlated with rotational phase, a nuclear surface with many features that are best interpreted as impact craters, and clear chemical heterogeneity in the outgassing from the nucleus.