title: High-resolution local gravity model of the south pole of the Moon from GRAIL extended mission data.
abstract: We estimated a high-resolution local gravity field model over the south pole of the Moon using data from the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory's extended mission. Our solution consists of adjustments with respect to a global model expressed in spherical harmonics. The adjustments are expressed as gridded gravity anomalies with a resolution of 1/6° by 1/6° (equivalent to that of a degree and order 1080 model in spherical harmonics), covering a cap over the south pole with a radius of 40°. The gravity anomalies have been estimated from a short-arc analysis using only Ka-band range-rate (KBRR) data over the area of interest. We apply a neighbor-smoothing constraint to our solution. Our local model removes striping present in the global model; it reduces the misfit to the KBRR data and improves correlations with topography to higher degrees than current global models.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We present a high-resolution gravity model of the south pole of the Moon Improved correlations with topography to higher degrees than global models Improved fits to the data and reduced striping that is present in global models.
authors.affiliation: CRESST, University of Maryland Baltimore County Baltimore, Maryland, USA ; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Sander
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Goossens
authors.affiliation: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Terence J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Sabaka
authors.affiliation: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland, USA ; Emergent Space Technologies Greenbelt, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Nicholas
authors.affiliation: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Frank G
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Lemoine
authors.affiliation: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: David D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Rowlands
authors.affiliation: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland, USA ; Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Erwan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mazarico
authors.affiliation: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Gregory A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Neumann
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: David E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Maria T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Zuber
keywords: GRAIL; local analysis; lunar gravity; planetary geodesy