Dark Halo Craters: Global Lunar Locations and Diameters

A global collection of dark halo crater coordinates and diameters identified from lunar satellite imagery. The dataset was created by researchers at Purdue University West Lafayette using Lunar QuickMap and iron content data from the Kaguya and Clementine missions. Craters were identified based on ejecta patterns with higher iron content than surrounding rock, with a minimum diameter of 1 km for most areas.

Use Cases

• Mapping the spatial distribution of lunar dark halo craters based on longitude and latitude coordinates.
• Analyzing the relationship between crater diameter and iron-rich ejecta patterns described in the methodology.
• Training machine learning models to identify dark halo craters from satellite imagery based on the described iron content and albedo criteria.
• Studying lunar surface composition by correlating crater locations with known mare regions, which were excluded from this dataset.

Strengths

• Includes a specific global minimum crater diameter threshold of 1 km.
• Uses a defined, conservative mapping methodology involving dual human review and a 25% ejecta coverage requirement.
• Integrates data from two established satellite missions: Kaguya (Selene) and Clementine.

Limitations

• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The description notes that crater identification involves subjective human judgment, which could introduce error.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

Purdue University West Lafayette (Author: Brianne Checketts)

Collection Method

Manual mapping using Lunar QuickMap software and satellite data from Kaguya and Clementine missions.

Geography

Global lunar surface, with a specific detailed mapping section at 40–70 W, 20–70 S.