SCIENCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES. GLOBAL MAPS OF THE RELATIVE ABUNDANCE OF HYDROXYL OH AND WATER (HOH) (2.8 AND 3.0 UM BAND DEPTH RESPECTIVELY) OBTAINED FROM THE MOON MINERALOGY MAPPER (M3) SHOW VARIABILITY CORRELATED WITH LATITUDE LOCAL TIME OF DAY TEMPERATURE AND COMPOSITION SUGGESTING THAT THE SPECIFIC CONDITIONS AND SOIL CHARACTERISTICS FAVOR RETENTION OF OH AND HOH. OUR LONG TERM RESEARCH GOAL IS TO DETERMINE THOSE PROPERTIES OF THE LUNAR SOIL THAT FAVOR THE FORMATION AND RETENTION OF OH AND HOH. THIS DICTATES A PRELIMINARY GOAL OF IMPLEMENTING AN IMPROVED THERMAL EMISSION MODEL FOR M3 SPECTRAL REFLECTANCE DATA FOR THE LOCATIONS SELECTED TO CARRY OUT THIS RESEARCH. OUR PRELIMINARY RESULTS SUGGEST THAT SOIL MATURITY IS A KEY PROPERTY FAVORING RETENTION OF OH/HOH ALTHOUGH SOIL MATURITY IS NOT THE SOLE FACTOR AND THAT OTHER AS YET UNIDENTIFIED SOIL PROPERTIES ALSO AFFECT THE ABILITY OF THE SOIL TO RETAIN OH/HOH. OUR OBJECTIVE IN THE PROPOSED WORK IS TO IDENTIFY THE EXTENT TO WHICH MATURITY AND OTHER SOIL PROPERTIES INFLUENCE OH/HOH RETENTION AND WHAT THAT IMPLIES ABOUT HOW AND WHERE OH/HOH IS RETAINED IN THE MATERIAL. THIS LEADS US TO TWO TESTABLE HYPOTHESES FOR THE HOW THE SURFICAL OH/HOH IS FORMED AND RETAINED ON THE LUNAR SURFACE: (1) FRESHLY FRACTURED CRYSTALLINE MATERIALS (AS BY IMPACTS) PROVIDE DEFECT LATTICE SITES AND DANGLING BONDS PROVIDING AN ELECTROPOSITIVE SURFACE THAT WOULD ENHANCE ADSORPTION (CHEMISORPTION) OR (2) OH/ HOH IS TRAPPED WITHIN THE GLASSY PRODUCTS OF SPACE WEATHERING (I.E. AGGLUTINATES VAPOR-DEPOSITED AMORPHOUS RIMS ON SOIL PARTICLES. METHODOLOGY. TO TEST THESE HYPOTHESES WE WILL USE CLEMENTINE-DERIVED FEO AND TIO2 LRO WAC AND NAC FOR EOMORPHOLOGY AND DIVINER FOR MORPHOLOGY AND TO IMPROVE THE THERMAL MODEL FOR M3 DATA. THE ANALYTICAL PROCEDURE WILL FOCUS ON M3 SPECTRA TO CHARACTERIZE MINERALOGY AND THE RELATIVE CHANGES IN THE SHAPE AND DEPTH OF THE OH AND HOH ABSORPTION BANDS AS A FUNCTION OF: (A) LATITUDE (B) LUNAR TIME OF DAY (C) COMPOSITION (FEO AND TIO2 ABUNDANCE FROM CLEMENTINE; MINERALOGY FROM M3) (D) TEXTURE (E.G. GLASSY VERSUS CRYSTALLINE; MORPHOLOGICALLY FROM LRO WAC AND NAC AND SPECTRALLY FROM M3) AND (E) MATURITY (SPECTRAL CONTINUUM SLOPE RELATIVE MAFIC ABSORPTION BAND DEPTHS FROM M3). RELEVANCE. THE SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THIS PROJECT CAN BE EXPECTED TO HAVE AN IMPORTANT POSITIVE IMPACT ON CURRENT UNDERSTANDING OF THE LUNAR WATER CYCLE THE PROPERTIES OF THE SOIL THAT INFLUENCE THIS PHENOMENON AND CAN SERVE AS A GUIDE FOR PATHS OF FUTURE EXPLORATION AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT. AS SUCH THIS RESEARCH DIRECTLY ADDRESSES THE LDAP OBJECTIVES: (1) IDENTIFICATION AND/OR CHARACTERIZATION OF POTENTIAL LANDING SITES OF HIGH LUNAR SCIENCE RETURN (E.G. GEOMORPHOLOGY REGOLITH RADIATION AND COMPOSITIONAL PROPERTIES) (2) IDENTIFICATION DISTRIBUTION TRANSPORT AND CHARACTERIZATION OF VOLATILES IN AND ON THE MOON (3) LUNAR "CHANGE DETECTION" (I.E. DETECTION OF SURFACE OR ATMOSPHERIC CHANGES AS A FUNCTION OF TIME) AND (4) IDENTIFICATION/CHARACTERIZATION OF LUNAR MINERALOGY AS A FUNCTION OF LOCATION AND DEPTH. THE PROPOSED WORK WILL ALSO IMPROVE THE SCIENTIFIC RETURN OF LUNAR DATA THROUGH THE IMPROVEMENT IN THE THERMAL EMISSION REMOVAL FOR M3 DATA.