Integrated crater detection algorithm and systematic cataloging of phobos craters

Robust crater detection algorithms (CDAs) are important prerequisites for numerous applications in lunar and planetary science. In this paper, we present a novel integrated CDA for processing of global topography and global optical image mosaics. The proposed CDA is applied to one specific asteroid-like body, the small Martian moon Phobos. The new CDA consists of: (1) processing by topography-based CDA; (2) processing by optical-based CDA; (3) re-projection of used datasets and crater coordinates from normal to rotated view and back; (4) corrections of brightness and contrast of used optical image; and (5) tile generation for optical-based CDA and assembling of results with elimination of multiple detections, in combination with down-sampling of used optical-image in a loop down to the resolution of available topography image. Experimental evaluation of the proposed CDA is done by manual verification of crater-candidates and search for craters not catalogued in the previous steps. The evaluation has shown that the proposed CDA was used successfully for cataloging of 75% of Phobos craters. The result is PH1102GT, the first global catalogue of 1102 Phobos craters. It contains considerably more craters in comparison to the previously available maps with 15 named craters.