International Journal of Wireless and Microwave Technologies (IJWMT)
IJWMT Vol. 16, No. 5, 8 Oct. 2026
Cover page and Table of Contents: PDF (size: 1022KB)
Thermal-Corrected Hyperspectral Analysis of Lunar Surface Hydration and Mineralogy Using Chandrayaan-2 IIRS and Chandrayaan-1 M3 Data
PDF (1022KB), PP.284-298
Views: 0 Downloads: 0
Author(s)
Saritha Mulkala
1
Anjaneyulu Lokam
1
Kiran Dasari
2,*
Prasanna Chandrika Chenuboyina
1
Index Terms
Lunar, Chandrayaan-1, Chandrayaan-2, Imaging Infrared Spectrometer, Moon Mineralogy Mapper, Gardner crater, Glauber crater
Abstract
Information about the mineral makeup and whether the surface has water-related compounds can be obtained from the lunar surface’s spectral reflectance. The Chandrayaan-2 Imaging Infrared Spectrometer (IIRS) and Chandrayaan 1 Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M³) are hyperspectral instruments that can capture detailed spectral signatures across a wide range of wavelengths, from visible to infrared. This lets scientists’ study lunar materials in great detail. This paper presents a systematic methodology for analyzing and interpreting the hyperspectral data from Indian lunar missions to derive significant reflectance data. The workflow includes converting measured radiance to reflectance, applying photometric adjustments, removing thermal radiation contributions using the Planck-based model, and getting spectra from certain pixels in selected lunar areas. To study two sites, IIRS images were taken from the following two craters: Gardner crater and Glauber crater. Glauber Crater’s images facilitated a direct comparison between the two missions. From the spectrum produced, the presence of iron-based lunar rocks like olivine and pyroxene can be identified. The absorption dip observed in Gardner crater within the 3 µm band proves the presence of hydroxyl or water on the surface. On the other hand, Glauber Crater lacks an absorption dip, indicating it is dry. The spectra obtained from IIRS and data are similar in spectral shape over the same area, indicating that both instruments independently confirm the absence of hydration for characterizing the lunar surface composition. With these findings, we gain insight into the Moon’s mineral content and composition, variations in mineral properties from one area to another, and the presence of water signatures that depend on topography. The thermally corrected IIRS spectrum of Gardner crater reveals a characteristic absorption feature at 3 µm centred at 2.918 µm with band depth of 0.072 and FWHM of 0.194 µm, suggesting that there is surface OH/O on Gardner crater as has been detected before by IIRS hydration features at similar latitudes of the Moon. On the other hand, the spectra from both IIRS and M³ at Glauber crater reveal only an increase in the slope of the spectrum without showing any 3 µm hydration absorption feature. The IIRS reflectance ranges from 0.025 to 0.200 while the M³ reflectance ranges from 0.015 to 0.038. This is expected due to variations in calibration of the two sensors; however, in this case it shows consistency in the fact that there is no surface hydration.
Cite This Paper
Saritha Mulkala, Anjaneyulu Lokam, Kiran Dasari, Prasanna Chandrika Chenuboyina, "Thermal-Corrected Hyperspectral Analysis of Lunar Surface Hydration and Mineralogy Using Chandrayaan-2 IIRS and Chandrayaan-1 M3 Data", International Journal of Wireless and Microwave Technologies(IJWMT), Vol.16, No.5, pp. 284-298, 2026. DOI:10.5815/ijwmt.2026.05.17
Reference
[1]A. R. Chowdhury et al., "Imaging Infrared Spectrometer onboard Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter," Current Science, vol. 118, no. 3, pp. 368–375, Feb. 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs/v118/i3/368-375
[2]P. Singh and V. Kumar, "Evaluation of Chandrayaan-2 IIRS data for Lunar Surface Exploration," in 2023 IEEE India Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (InGARSS), 2023. DOI: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10490347/
[3]J. M. Sunshine et al., "Temporal and spatial variability of lunar hydration as observed by the Deep Impact spacecraft," Science, vol. 326, pp. 565–568, 2009. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1179788
[4]R. N. Clark, "Detection of adsorbed water and hydroxyl on the Moon," Science, vol. 326, pp. 562–564, 2009. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1178105
[5]M. Chauhan, P. A. Verma, and P. Chauhan, "Level-2 processing of Chandrayaan-2 Imaging Infrared Spectrometer (IIRS) data for generation of surface reflectance," Meteoritics & Planetary Science, vol. 60, no. 9, pp. 2269–2282, 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.70037
[6]P. Chauhan et al., "Unambiguous detection of OH and H2O on the Moon from Chandrayaan-2 Imaging Infrared Spectrometer reflectance data using 3 μm hydration feature," Current Science, vol. 121, no. 3, pp. 391–401, Aug. 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs/v121/i3/391-401
[7]P. Zhou, Z. Zhao, G. Wei, H. Huo, "Mineral Content Estimation of Lunar Soil of Lunar Highland and Lunar Mare Based on Diagnostic Spectral Characteristic and Partial Least Squares Method," Applied Sciences, vol. 12, no. 3, Art. no. 1197, Jan. 2022, doi: 10.3390/app12031197.
[8]S. Bose, A. Kumari, R. Biswas, M. N. L. Ghosh, and A. P. Krishna, "Photometric Correction of Images Obtained from Chandrayaan-2 Imaging Infra-Red Spectrometer (IIRS) Data," Advances in Space Research, vol. 73, pp. 2720–2752, 2024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2023.12.019
[9]I. Rayal, P. Chauhan, P. K. Thakur, and U. Kumar, "Python-Based Open-Source Tool for Automating Seleno-Referencing of Chandrayaan-2 Hyper-Spectral Data Cubes," Journal of the Indian Society of Remote Sensing, vol. 52, no. 2, pp. 305–313, 2024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12524-024-01814-4
[10]R. P. Rajasekhar, A. K. Dagar, R. Nagori, S. S. Bhiravarasu, S. P. Ojha, and S. Bhattacharya, "Comprehensive analysis of Chandrayaan-3 landing site region focussing on morphology, hydration and gravity anomalies," Icarus, vol. 415, p. 116074, 2024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2024.116074
[11]P. A. Verma, M. Chauhan, and P. Chauhan, "Lunar surface temperature estimation and thermal emission correction using Chandrayaan-2 Imaging Infrared Spectrometer data for H2O & OH detection using 3 μm hydration feature," Icarus, vol. 383, p. 115075, 2022. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2022.115075
[12]C. M. Pieters et al., "Character and spatial distribution of OH/H2O on the surface of the Moon seen by M3 on Chandrayaan-1," Science, vol. 326, pp. 568–572, 2009. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1178658
[13]R. O. Green et al., "The Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) imaging spectrometer for lunar science: Instrument description, calibration, on-orbit measurements, science data calibration and on-orbit validation," Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, vol. 116, p. E00G19, 2011. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JE003797
[14]T. Ahmad, T. Chakraborty, R. B. Lyngdoh, S. Bhattacharya, and A. Misra, "Spectral unmixing analysis for the lunar surface mineralogy using Chandrayaan-2 IIRS imagery," Planetary and Space Science, vol. 220, p. 105537, 2022. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pss.2022.105537
[15]A. K. Dagar et al., "Mineralogical investigation of crater Gardner and its surroundings using Chandrayaan-2 Imaging Infrared Spectrometer data," in 53rd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Abstract #1329, 2022. (Conference abstract — no DOI)
[16]C. M. Pieters and S. Tompkins, "Tsiolkovsky crater: A window into crustal processes on the lunar farside," Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, vol. 104, no. E9, pp. 21935–21949, 1999. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/1998JE001010
[17]B. L. Hapke, "Bidirectional reflectance spectroscopy: 1. Theory," Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, vol. 86, no. B4, pp. 3039–3054, 1981. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/JB086iB04p03039
[18]M. I. Mishchenko, J. M. Dlugach, E. G. Yanovitskij, and N. T. Zakharova, "Bidirectional reflectance of flat, optically thick particulate layers: An efficient radiative transfer solution and applications to snow and soil surfaces," Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer, vol. 63, no. 2–6, pp. 409–432, 1999. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-4073(99)00028-X
[19]J. L. Bandfield, R. R. Ghent, A. R. Vasavada, D. A. Paige, S. J. Lawrence, and M. S. Robinson, "Lunar surface rock abundance and regolith fines temperatures derived from LRO Diviner radiometer data," Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, vol. 116, p. E00H02, 2011. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JE003866
[20]T. B. McCord, R. N. Clark, and R. B. Singer, "Mars: Near-infrared spectral reflectance of surface regions and compositional implications," Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, vol. 87, no. B4, pp. 3021–3032, 1982. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/JB087iB04p03021
[21]A. Grumpe, C. Wöhler, A. A. Berezhnoy, V. V. Shevchenko, "Time-of-day-dependent behavior of surficial lunar hydroxyl/water: Observations and modeling," Icarus, vol. 321, pp. 486-507, Mar. 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.icarus.2018.11.025.
[22]P. G. Lucey, G. J. Taylor, and E. Malaret, "Abundance and distribution of iron on the Moon," Science, vol. 268, pp. 1150–1153, 1995. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.268.5214.1150
[23]S. K. Noble, C. M. Pieters, and L. P. Keller, "An experimental approach to understanding the optical effects of space weathering," Icarus, vol. 192, no. 2, pp. 629–642, 2007. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2007.07.021