LIME

LIME is the Lunar Irradiance Model of the European Space Agency (ESA), which aims to determine an improved lunar irradiance model with sub-2% radiometric uncertainty.

Image of the Moon taken by ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst from the International Space Station during his Horizons mission.

A toolbox full of science

The LIME toolbox allows to simulate output of the model and compare these to actual lunar observations.

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Irradiance, Reflectance and Polarisation

Simulate lunar irradiance, reflectance and polarisation for any given input.

Geographic, Selenographic or Satellite

Input geographic or selenographic coordinates, and given a satellite the toolbox can derive its position.

Perform Comparisons

Compare the LIME model with observation files that follow an extended GLOD format.

Custom SRFs

The toolbox can integrate the irradiance for any user-given spectral response function.

Uncertainty estimation

Uncertainties are estimated for all the data and propagated with a Monte Carlo approach through the processing chain using the CoMet toolkit.

Export to many formats

Export the output to images (.png, .jpg, .pdf…), simple csv files or a reloadable GLOD-based netCDF format.

Model data sources

LIME’s model is based on observations carried out in Tenerife, Spain.

Precise Lunar Observations

The model is derived from lunar observations conducted with a lunar photometer operated from Mount Teide in Tenerife, Spain.
Following instrument characterisation and calibration, the instrument was continuously operated since March 2018 and provides about a hundred lunar irradiance observations per year.
It is a solar photometer, similar to those used by a global network measuring aerosols in the atmosphere.
This one has been specially adapted to work during the night instead of the day, measuring moonlight.
It operates at the Izaña Atmospheric Observatory during the winter, at around 2km altitude, then it’s moved to the top of Mount Teide in summer time, at about 3.5 km altitude.
The dataset is available at https://zenodo.org/records/10534334

Lunar phometer of ESA operated at the peak of Mount Teide in Tenerife.

NPL’s spectroradiometer at Izaña Atmospheric Observatory in Tenerife.

Hyperspectral Lunar Observations

LIME’s interpolation is derived using hyperspectral measurements conducted with a operated at Izaña Atmospheric Observatory in Tenerife, Spain.
These measurements were taken during specific campaigns in 2022.
The dataset is available at https://zenodo.org/records/10540556

“The model output has an expanded (k=2) radiometric uncertainty of ∼2 % at the lunar photometer wavelengths, and it is expected that planned observations until at least 2024 further constrain the model parameters.”

LIME: Lunar Irradiance Model of ESA, a new tool for the absolute radiometric calibration using the Moon (2024) by Toledano et al.

Latest Publications

2024

1.

S. Adriaensen; P. Vis; J. Gatón; Á. Barreto; A. Bialek; M. Bouvet; J. Fahy; R. González; C. Toledano

Modelling the degree of linear polarization (DoLP) of the Moon’s light with a Cimel CE318-TP9 Conference

Advancement of POLarimetric Observations (APOLO) 18-21 Nov 2024. Kyoto, Japan, 2024.

BibTeX

2.

C. Toledano; S. Adriaensen; A. Bialek; Á. Barreto; R. González; P. De Vis; J. Gatón; M. Bouvet.

The Lunar Irradiance Model of ESA (LIME) Conference

Oral presentation ACTRIS Science Conference 13-16 May 2024 Rennes, France, 2024.

BibTeX

3.

C. Toledano; S. Taylor; Á. Barreto; S. Adriaensen; A. Berjón; A. Bialek; R. González; E. Woolliams; M. Bouvet

LIME: Lunar Irradiance Model of ESA, a new tool for absolute radiometric calibration using the Moon Journal Article

In: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, vol. 24, no. 6, pp. 3649–3671, 2024.

Links | BibTeX

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