Applications of the Visualization of Lunar Surface Based on Chang'E-1 Observations

The Chang'E-1 is the first Chinese lunar explorer. One of the major objectives of the mission is to obtain photographic and topographic data of the moon. Based on these data, applications of the visualization of lunar surface are discussed in this paper. The methods to develop lunar topographic map from Chinese Chang'E-1 lunar data are introduced. The methods include color-coded shaded relief mapping, 3D modeling and data fusion. The software for shaded relief mapping is presented and briefly compared. And the construction of 3D topographic model is discussed. Then, data fusion theories are summarized. And procedures of image fusion based on HIS transformation are applied in lunar visualization. The examples using lunar data obtained by Chang'E-1 were shown in each section of the methods explanation. In the end, the future of lunar visualization is anticipated.