Lunar multispectral imaging at 2.26 microns - First results

The first results of line-scan imaging of the moon at 2.26 microns and 0.56 micron are presented. Among the many features observed in the 2.26 micron/0.56 micron ratio image, fresh rock and immature soils stand out as dark (i.e., low ratio) due to their infrared absorption bands. Also notable in this image are several strikingly bright (high 2.26 micron/0.56 micron ratio) areas which are likely to contain pyroclastic, glass-related materials. Some of these bright areas correspond to dark mantling material. Others (e.g., Sulpicius Gallus, Aristarchus Plateau) are distinctly different in their overall spectral reflectance and it is suggested that these localities contain varieties of pyroclastic glass-related materials which were not sampled by Apollo 17 but which are relatively abundant elsewhere on the moon.