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Pointing (CK) and Spacecraft (SPK) kernels for selected LROC NAC images of the Lunar north pole

Metadata Updated: September 12, 2025

NASA’s lunar exploration objectives, which include both robotic and human missions to the surface, require data products with high spatial resolution and accuracy. Using rigorous photogrammetric methods, we have co-aligned thousands of high-resolution images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) [Robbinson et al. 2010] of the lunar north and south pole. Both data sets are tied to Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) data [Smith et al. 2010a], which realizes the mean Earth/polar axis lunar reference frame [Archinal et al., 2018, Section 3]. The north pole data set includes improved orientation information for 9687 images acquired between September of 2009 and March of 2014 and has positional RMS residuals of 0.31 pixels (residuals are +/- 2.1 pixels at the 99th percentile). Rather than release the updated images themselves, which are large, here we provide updated camera state and spacecraft ephemeris data in the form of NASA Navigation and Ancillary Information Facility (NAIF) Spacecraft, Planet, Instrument, C-matrix, Events (SPICE) kernels [Acton, 1996] These kernels can be applied to the LROC images included in our photogrammetric solutions to update the locations of images or used with any application that accepts SPICE kernels. This enables the creation of image mosaics under a range of illumination conditions, and the use of multi-image photoclinometry to derive topographic information. The kernels in this data release are organized by camera (LROC “left” – LE, and LROC “right” – RE), kernel type (.bc camera kernels or SPICE CK, and .bsp spacecraft kernels or SPICE SPK) and the time period (year) that the images were acquired. We also include summary files (*.doc) for each kernel that lists the images included in each kernel and the other SPICE kernels (e.g., PCK) applied to each image. 
 
 Acton, C. H. (1996). Ancillary Data Services of NASA’s Navigation and Ancillary Information Facility. Planetary and Space Science, 44(1), pp. 65-70. 
 
 Archinal, B. A., et al., 2018. Report of the IAU Working Group on Cartographic Coordinates and Rotational Elements: 2015. Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy, 130:22, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10569-017-9805-5.
 
 Robinson, M. S., et al., 2010. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) instrument overview. Space Sci. Rev. 150, 81 – 124, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-010-9634-2 
 
 Smith D. E., et al., 2010a. The Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter investigation on the Lunuar Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission. Space Sci. Rev. 150, 209-241, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-009-9512-y

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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Dates

Metadata Created Date September 12, 2025
Metadata Updated Date September 12, 2025

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI USGS DCAT-US

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date September 12, 2025
Metadata Updated Date September 12, 2025
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/usgs-688a50c7d4be02367c9c1259
Data Last Modified 2025-08-01T00:00:00Z
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://ddi.doi.gov/usgs-data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id 0844255e-391c-4a24-a1e7-6043c404dc3f
Harvest Source Id 2b80d118-ab3a-48ba-bd93-996bbacefac2
Harvest Source Title DOI USGS DCAT-US
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial -180.0000, 85.0000, 180.0000, 90.0000
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 444c121743a47e82e47ca19e779a86a3e28eb953c076e5a93547b14f44b3a3a6
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -180.0000, 85.0000, -180.0000, 90.0000, 180.0000, 90.0000, 180.0000, 85.0000, -180.0000, 85.0000}

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