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THE ABUNDANCE AND DISTRIBUTION OF WATER ICE IN THE LUNAR POLAR REGIONS REMAINS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT AND UNANSWERED QUESTIONS IN LUNAR SCIENCE. CLASSICAL THEORY SUGGESTS ICE SHOULD RESIDE WITHIN COLD TRAPS BUT THE OBSERVATIONAL EVIDENCE POINTS TOWARD A MORE COMPLEX SITUATION. NEVERTHELESS CLASSIC COLD TRAPPING THEORY IS CONSISTENT WITH OBSERVATIONS OF ICE IN PERMANENTLY SHADOWED CRATERS ON MERCURY AND CERES. THE EXTENT OF COLD TRAPS IS COMMONLY DEFINED BY A PEAK TEMPERATURE THRESHOLD WHEREAS IT IS FUNDAMENTALLY DEFINED BY SUBLIMATION RATE. HERE WE PROPOSE TO MAP LUNAR COLD TRAPS FOR THE FIRST TIME BASED ON TIME-INTEGRATED SUBLIMATION RATES INSTEAD OF PEAK TEMPERATURE. THE SAME APPROACH WILL BE USED TO MORE ACCURATELY MAP THE STABILITY OF BURIED ICE AND THERMAL PUMPING TWO PROPOSED ALTERNATIVE ICE STORAGE MECHANISMS. FINALLY WE WILL COMPARE THESE RESULTS WITH SEVERAL OBSERVATIONAL CONSTRAINTS. DELIVERABLES INCLUDE: 1) THE MOST ACCURATE MAP OF COLD TRAPS (POTENTIAL SUBLIMATION RATE) EVER PRODUCED 2) NEW SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGY FOR READ-LIMITED DATA PROCESSING AND 3) A QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF SPATIAL COINCIDENCE OR DEVIATION BETWEEN ICE RESERVOIRS PREDICTED BY THREE THEORIES VERSUS OBSERVATIONAL CONSTRAINTS. THIS DETAILED QUANTIFICATION OF ICE STORAGE MECHANISMS WILL PROVIDE CRUCIAL INSIGHT INTO THE SCIENCE OF LUNAR VOLATILES.

$285,751FY2020National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA

Planetary Science Institute, Tucson AZ

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