Abstract
Data from the Apollo 15, 16, and 17 laser altimeters has been used to study slopes, elevations and roughness in the identifiable regions on the Moon which sporadically produce plasma compressions and magnetic field enhancements in the solar wind/lunar void boundary, when those regions are at a flow limb. It is found that occurrence rates for such ‘limb compressions’ derived from Explorer 35 satellite measurements are significantly correlated with peak, average and rms slopes in the source regions, whereas rates derived from Apollo 15 and 16 subsatellite data are not correlated with topography. This suggests that two or more mechanisms operate in the source regions to produce limb compressions. Together with the known correlation between limb compressions and local surface remanent magnetic fields, the results indicate that lunar magnetization is not strongly related to surface features.
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Lunar Science Institute Contribution, No. 212. The Lunar Science Institute is operated by the Universities Space Research Association under Contract No. NSR 09-051-001 with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
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Srnka, L.J., Criswell, D.R. & Wollenhaupt, W.R. Lunar topography and the limb compression source regions. The Moon 14, 59–69 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00562973
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00562973