DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.14253939
title: Boulder populations around 82 fresh simple impact craters on the Moon and 15 fresh simple impact craters on Mars

description: We leveraged our best-trained YOLOv8 model to automatically detect boulders on planetary surfaces, identifying over 2,000,000 boulders around 82 fresh simple impact craters on the Moon and 15 on Mars. This work builds upon the methodologies presented in Prieur et al. (2023) ("Automatic Characterization of Boulders on Planetary Surfaces from High-Resolution Satellite Images"), enhancing it with additional labeled data and transitioning to a more advanced model architecture (YOLOv8 compared to Mask R-CNN). These advancements aim to provide deeper insights into impact ejection mechanisms, focusing on boulder populations as representatives of low-velocity ejected rock fragments.

The database is organized into three main folders: coldspots, fresh_craters_not_coldspots, and mars. The first two folders pertain exclusively to lunar craters. The coldspots folder includes data on boulder populations around cold spots with diameters exceeding 400–500 meters, derived from the Williams et al. (2018) cold spot database ("Lunar Cold Spots and Crater Production on the Moon"). The fresh_craters_not_coldspots folder features very fresh simple impact craters on the lunar surface, likely retaining pristine boulder populations. Tables 1 and 2 summarize key details about these lunar craters and their boulder distributions. Similar information for Martian craters is not yet available. The selection of 15 fresh Martian craters was guided by Watters et al. (2015) ("Morphometry of Small Recent Impact Craters on Mars: Size and Terrain Dependence, Short-term Modification"), focusing on craters with resolvable boulder populations in HiRISE images.

Within each folder, you will find subfolders named after the images used for automatic detection, containing both a raster folder (.tif files for actual imagery) and a shp folder (shapefiles). The shapefiles include:



<tif-filename>-crater-center.shp: Crater center coordinates.

<tif-filename>-visual-break-in-slope.shp: Visual break in slope, typically smaller than the rim-to-rim diameter.

<tif-filename>-visual-break-in-slope-1R-4R-total.shp: Total area from 1 to 4 radii away from the crater center.

<tif-filename>-visual-break-in-slope-1R-4R-mapped.shp: Mapped area within 1 to 4 radii, limited to predicted zones.

<tif-filename>-YOLO-predictions.shp: YOLO-detected boulders, including some manually added outlines.


This database contributes significantly to the study of ejection dynamics by offering a robust dataset for examining boulder populations across diverse planetary environments.

More information will come in a soon to be submitted article (temptative title: "Systematic analysis of boulder populations around lunar fresh simple impact craters").

Table 1. List around which craters boulder populations have been automatically detected. 






Crater



Crater type



Longitude



Latitude



Apparent diameter (m)



Unit



NAC image



Resolution (m)



Incidence angle (o)





South Ray



Fresh impact craters



15.38



-9.15



528



Highlands



M119747321



0.44



55.14





Crater 30



Fresh impact craters



-83.44



13.24



856



Highlands



M1354689363LE



0.98



58.25





Crater 31



Fresh impact craters



-172.28



-1.81



936



Highlands



M1375223288RE



0.86



17.04





Crater 35



Fresh impact craters



-113.01



-3.03



1022



Highlands



M109976907



0.57



9.65





Crater 36



Fresh impact craters



99.71



-18.12



1168



Highlands



M1118226283



0.83



20.23





Crater 41



Fresh impact craters



157.29



8.04



1392



Highlands



M145956430



0.57



63.86





Crater 37



Fresh impact craters



-68.82



-12.71



1474



Highlands



M112047758



0.48



34.91





Crater 40



Fresh impact craters



17.23



-33.72



1508



Highlands



M119740077



0.44



62.2





Crater 27



Fresh impact craters



-60.64



-40.62



1876



Highlands



M1160519487



0.61



54.55





Crater 50



Fresh impact craters



-104.40



-5.12



2072



Highlands



M142950968



0.49



28.77





Crater 52



Fresh impact craters



123.34



26.78



2304



Highlands



M174468232



0.56



42.83





Crater 49



Fresh impact craters



98.89



2.72



2450



Highlands



M167552863



0.59



45.59





Crater 54



Fresh impact craters



173.09



-39.62



2530



Highlands



M1104789289RE



0.71



45.39





Crater 53



Fresh impact craters



-109.92



9.34



2722



Highlands



M130008764



0.52



63.19





Crater 25



Fresh impact craters



49.81



46.73



3088



Highlands



M141932532



0.42



50.69





Hell Q



Fresh impact craters



-4.45



-32.99



3624



Highlands



M126961088



0.44



43.47





Censorinus



Fresh impact craters



32.69



-0.39



3890



Highlands



M157377691



0.38



19.44





Crater 20



Fresh impact craters



85.20



-17.47



4500



Highlands



M139348293



0.43



20.21





Crater 19



Fresh impact craters



-170.07



-16.71



4878



Highlands



M1311787796



0.76



37.2





Crater 16



Fresh impact craters



-45.45



1.16



864



Maria



M135487427RE



0.45



56.36





Crater 17



Fresh impact craters



-66.55



39.74



930



Maria



M109670563



0.53



41.76





Crater 1



Fresh impact craters



-35.25



-4.95



946



Maria



M157825101



0.45



24.89





Crater 18



Fresh impact craters



-28.77



43.63



1004



Maria



M120040136



0.59



62.77





Crater 12



Fresh impact craters



-20.57



-3.77



1088



Maria



M157730212



0.41



23.38





Crater 14



Fresh impact craters



-56.16



49.01



1160



Maria



M173280006



0.48



53.71





Crater 11



Fresh impact craters



-61.05



11.07



1186



Maria



M157994899



0.41



27.78





Piton B



Fresh impact craters



179.85



39.36



1252



Maria



M129289994



0.42



62.6





Crater 13



Fresh impact craters



-31.90



32.10



1316



Maria



M129500195



0.39



61.9





Crater 10



Fresh impact craters



89.09



3.91



1398



Maria



M139320750



0.43



14.03





Crater 9



Fresh impact craters



-70.24



40.80



1432



Maria



M168658296



0.94



51.26





Crater 4



Fresh impact craters



11.21



20.44



1618



Maria



M1225940270



0.31



24.99





Crater 6



Fresh impact craters



38.96



52.88



1764



Maria



M124315515



0.53



51.47





Lassell D



Fresh impact craters



-10.59



-14.57



1910



Maria



M1221383405



0.63



41.1





Posidonius Y



Fresh impact craters



24.91



30.03



1988



Maria



M144463201



0.44



53.66





Linne



Fresh impact craters



11.80



27.75



2180



Maria



M122129845



0.45



36.7





Herigonius K



Fresh impact craters



-36.47



-12.84



2840



Maria



M135426635



0.43



57.53





Encke X



Fresh impact craters



-40.33



0.93



2850



Maria



M157859110



0.42



24.59





Liebig J



Fresh impact craters



-45.18



-24.82



3600



Maria



M140203430



0.44



23.46





La Condamine S



Fresh impact craters



-25.27



57.36



3868



Maria



M155404585



0.39



55.96





Lichtenberg B



Fresh impact craters



-61.50



33.25



4876



Maria



M137949855



0.48



43.67





Cold spot 1722



Cold spots



-148.24



12.47



426



Highlands



M112563492RE



0.57



42.24





Cold spot 1669



Cold spots



-102.53



-9.34



438



Highlands



M1224337289LE



0.78



9.92





Cold spot 1609



Cold spots



-118.44



7.14



444



Highlands



M1374871580LE



0.92



15.18





Cold spot 1610



Cold spots



-114.83



0.49



456



Highlands



M168957617



0.38



30.24





Cold spot 1796



Cold spots



-132.64



-17.64



456



Highlands



M1180981884LE



0.86



30.46





Cold spot 1704



Cold spots



130.73



13.80



470



Highlands



M1312166305RE



0.86



32.06





Cold spot 1712



Cold spots



161.26



16.26



472



Highlands



M128230980RE



0.57



45.01





Cold spot 1616



Cold spots



-82.25



5.19



476



Highlands



M112135697LE



0.50



35.09





Cold spot 1578



Cold spots



7.79



0.45



490



Highlands



M157540427RE



0.38



21.29





Cold spot 1781



Cold spots



122.97



-19.30



494



Highlands



M143819421LE



0.62



42.04





Cold spot 1358



Cold spots



143.01



-24.37



496



Highlands



M1104988970RE



0.82



35.44





Cold spot 2096



Cold spots



-133.32



-26.72



496



Highlands



M169080251RE



0.41



37.47





Cold spot 2137



Cold spots



-94.61



-2.81



508



Highlands



M1318344441RE



0.84



43.09





Cold spot 1707



Cold spots



157.39



17.28



512



Highlands



M143594908LE



0.54



39.87





Cold spot 2273



Cold spots



128.57



6.39



518



Highlands



M1316882498RE



0.86



27





Cold spot 1940



Cold spots



-131.75



34.24



524



Highlands



M140765593



0.61



35.91





Cold spot 1663



Cold spots



-135.38



-5.89



542



Highlands



M166731977LE



0.54



55.15





Cold spot 1934



Cold spots



177.56



38.40



560



Highlands



M143458859



0.55



50.86





Cold spot 1719



Cold spots



-158.33



11.60



598



Highlands



M1148193008RE



1.23



11.2





Cold spot 1927



Cold spots



89.84



32.35



598



Highlands



M121627645



0.53



44.46





Cold spot 1723



Cold spots



-141.47



15.61



604



Highlands



M123140924



0.47



21.21





Cold spot 1912



Cold spots



-25.44



11.56



616



Highlands



M1341379336LE



0.88



36.1





Cold spot 1623



Cold spots



-71.00



5.21



618



Highlands



M171027369LE



0.45



9.16





Cold spot 1720



Cold spots



-157.40



18.45



638



Highlands



M153910794RE



0.50



26.97





Cold spot 2232



Cold spots



28.81



-10.45



678



Highlands



M129099109



0.41



53.55





Cold spot 1643



Cold spots



90.77



-5.39



830



Highlands



M159358731LE



0.54



41.97





Cold spot 1880



Cold spots



120.12



-29.73



840



Highlands



M123784480



0.54



32.17





Cold spot 2004



Cold spots



-126.00



5.82



850



Highlands



M1344387281



1.11



6.85





Cold spot 1607



Cold spots



-134.12



4.65



852



Highlands



M1272761144LE



0.91



36.11





Cold spot 1989



Cold spots



136.80



-42.16



876



Highlands



M189700161



0.64



53.1





Cold spot 1646



Cold spots



109.91



-6.74



972



Highlands



M123852771



0.52



11.14





Cold spot 2055



Cold spots



69.14



-18.92



1028



Highlands



M152424055



0.45



42.97





Cold spot 1896



Cold spots



-70.92



-20.62



1128



Highlands



M125033800



0.45



23.04





Cold spot 1648



Cold spots



151.68



-4.08



1402



Highlands



M176643067LE



0.54



59.2





Cold spot 2056



Cold spots



166.64



19.38



1826



Highlands



M121118602



0.52



42.42





Cold spot 1701



Cold spots



121.30



18.68



1990



Highlands



M110797848



0.58



27.58





Cold spot 1784



Cold spots



144.41



-17.68



2268



Highlands



M121267110



0.50



41.55





Cold spot 1873



Cold spots



47.15



-21.07



452



Maria



M1228072113



0.64



41.63





Cold spot 2134



Cold spots



-91.57



-18.16



462



Maria



M168808669LE



0.36



35.93





Cold spot 1759



Cold spots



-14.12



13.77



474



Maria



M1254332694LE



0.89



16.11





Cold spot 1907



Cold spots



-24.14



4.47



524



Maria



M127090695RE



0.42



29.7





Cold spot 1678



Cold spots



-50.46



-0.24



668



Maria



M150850264RE



0.44



57.35





Table 2. Boulder morphometrics, number of boulders detected and variables describing the fragmentation patterns. This data will soon be published in a manuscript. 






Crater



Apparent diameter (m)



Unit



% mapped



Mean top 5-eq. boulder diameter (m)



Mean top-5 long axis (m)



Rock abundace (%)



n boulders detected



K



Power-law exp.



Power-law exp. error



Dmin





South Ray



528



Highlands



100



10.24



12.03



0.78



4579



52453



-4.64



0.204



3.44





Crater 30



856



Highlands



67



14.60



16.91



0.42



1056



214648



-4.76



0.265



5.54





Crater 31



936



Highlands



98



17.88



21.64



0.40



1414



143266



-4.43



0.196



5.75





Crater 35



1022



Highlands



92



19.77



21.03



0.39



1956



85447



-4.17



0.255



6.89





Crater 36



1168



Highlands



100



17.69



19.48



0.22



1494



81415



-4.51



0.279



6.50





Crater 41



1392



Highlands



100



19.20



23.00



0.42



10333



33871



-4.19



0.222



6.16





Crater 37



1474



Highlands



78



22.83



26.42



0.73



16735



24477



-3.68



0.127



5.59





Crater 40



1508



Highlands



75



18.20



21.01



0.89



28330



20445



-3.69



0.086



4.30





Crater 27



1876



Highlands



84



31.25



36.82



1.18



35950



38390



-3.64



0.042



4.06





Crater 50



2072



Highlands



68



27.18



35.19



1.24



40530



35210



-3.58



0.037



3.82





Crater 52



2304



Highlands



71



31.10



37.19



0.71



26397



12389



-3.26



0.048



4.28





Crater 49



2450



Highlands



70



26.30



32.88



0.63



25854



10599



-3.24



0.034



3.40





Crater 54



2530



Highlands



40



34.32



42.82



0.76



12810



17460



-3.27



0.059



4.74





Crater 53



2722



Highlands



55



26.65



34.44



1.41



73325



32505



-3.51



0.033



3.97





Crater 25



3088



Highlands



38



31.26



35.88



1.26



71191



17672



-3.25



0.026



3.24





Hell Q



3624



Highlands



33



44.41



57.38



1.81



117215



21658



-3.17



0.021



3.40





Censorinus



3890



Highlands



28



36.25



43.87



0.98



57096



14261



-3.27



0.034



3.79





Crater 20



4500



Highlands



24



53.97



69.80



2.22



111159



22240



-2.96



0.022



4.15





Crater 19



4878



Highlands



44



51.61



61.21



1.11



57780



25572



-3.17



0.025



5.26





Crater 16



864



Maria



57



15.35



18.54



3.07



28087



127554



-4.37



0.083



3.46





Crater 17



930



Maria



85



16.51



19.48



2.14



21488



165170



-4.37



0.079



4.06





Crater 1



946



Maria



76



14.97



18.14



2.05



20649



215066



-4.57



0.120



4.69





Crater 18



1004



Maria



88



13.15



15.04



1.36



19653



262305



-5.36



0.130



3.95





Crater 12



1088



Maria



76



18.01



20.00



2.52



35506



127536



-4.12



0.074



4.34





Crater 14



1160



Maria



81



23.22



29.35



2.12



34503



54711



-3.67



0.049



3.67





Crater 11



1186



Maria



54



17.67



20.94



1.70



24691



54164



-4.02



0.077



3.59





Piton B



1252



Maria



88



19.44



23.49



2.53



74634



52797



-3.82



0.040



3.26





Crater 13



1316



Maria



36



15.35



17.76



2.56



40790



221510



-4.93



0.168



4.59





Crater 10



1398



Maria



80



23.12



29.14



2.17



36495



111906



-3.89



0.065



5.07





Crater 9



1432



Maria



57



23.44



28.45



3.02



124605



42989



-3.79



0.043



3.11





Crater 4



1618



Maria



92



19.92



23.76



0.21



2405



46873



-4.30



0.144



5.38





Crater 6



1764



Maria



81



16.71



19.48



1.13



42894



93455



-4.47



0.064



4.10





Lassell D



1910



Maria



81



28.47



33.73



1.34



31942



26153



-3.24



0.028



3.60





Posidonius Y



1988



Maria



56



21.39



25.32



1.17



49782



15638



-3.40



0.035



3.00





Linne



2180



Maria



59



23.84



27.76



1.31



76822



23886



-3.69



0.032



3.00





Herigonius K



2840



Maria



42



25.56



30.68



1.42



108674



17121



-3.45



0.028



3.00





Encke X



2850



Maria



41



32.68



40.13



1.21



54457



13914



-3.10



0.027



3.24





Liebig J



3600



Maria



32



24.02



29.77



2.05



126140



66177



-3.84



0.029



3.89





La Condamine S



3868



Maria



9



32.31



40.95



4.28



100052



90168



-3.53



0.053



5.09





Lichtenberg B



4876



Maria



28



46.24



54.88



0.95



100753



11390



-3.25



0.031



3.88





Cold spot 1722



426



Highlands



60



8.67



11.15



0.33



502



21797



-4.34



0.318



3.06





Cold spot 1669



438



Highlands



100



15.91



17.00



0.34



420



7902



-3.28



0.186



3.34





Cold spot 1609



444



Highlands



57



8.75



9.69



0.09



49



33006



-4.47



1.241



5.98





Cold spot 1610



456



Highlands



100



8.58



9.90



0.45



1998



24148



-4.36



0.261



3.33





Cold spot 1796



456



Highlands



70



9.23



10.08



0.23



251



13545



-3.86



0.255



3.13





Cold spot 1704



470



Highlands



53



9.14



9.66



0.15



99



33274



-4.32



0.644



4.52





Cold spot 1712



472



Highlands



100



9.32



9.97



0.34



977



30223



-4.47



0.318



3.74





Cold spot 1616



476



Highlands



100



9.70



11.49



0.44



1595



16222



-3.95



0.219



3.32





Cold spot 1578



490



Highlands



82



12.45



15.63



0.36



1111



11226



-3.74



0.289



3.83





Cold spot 1781



494



Highlands



100



6.80



7.62



0.16



580



36023



-5.29



0.479



3.55





Cold spot 1358



496



Highlands



100



8.34



9.53



0.09



178



16156



-4.60



0.495



3.80





Cold spot 2096



496



Highlands



60



9.44



11.72



0.34



1178



3458



-3.45



0.453



3.91





Cold spot 2137



508



Highlands



100



7.90



8.48



0.20



431



1412617



-6.77



0.691



4.74





Cold spot 1707



512



Highlands



95



9.26



11.12



0.28



1012



18281



-4.30



0.307



3.60





Cold spot 2273



518



Highlands



100



12.97



13.14



0.17



279



8625



-3.70



0.227



3.34





Cold spot 1940



524



Highlands



100



14.00



15.97



0.19



412



4492



-3.33



0.322



4.41





Cold spot 1663



542



Highlands



88



9.99



11.09



0.27



1180



6906



-3.80



0.289



3.44





Cold spot 1934



560



Highlands



100



10.07



11.05



0.39



1834



109375



-5.16



0.473



4.71





Cold spot 1719



598



Highlands



100



10.04



11.53



0.03



36



1889



-3.47



0.758



5.66





Cold spot 1927



598



Highlands



100



10.02



12.01



0.41



1927



14355



-3.82



0.137



3.04





Cold spot 1723



604



Highlands



83



12.28



14.60



0.50



1877



46515



-4.27



0.299



4.77





Cold spot 1912



616



Highlands



100



11.18



13.64



0.18



397



78489



-4.80



0.411



5.02





Cold spot 1623



618



Highlands



55



13.34



15.36



0.43



1311



10939



-3.65



0.229



3.58





Cold spot 1720



638



Highlands



100



11.07



13.30



0.26



1453



7693



-3.68



0.179



3.29





Cold spot 2232



678



Highlands



100



10.67



12.19



0.52



5821



14089



-4.01



0.153



3.17





Cold spot 1643



830



Highlands



57



15.18



17.15



0.46



2017



17412



-3.69



0.220



4.54





Cold spot 1880



840



Highlands



100



15.14



17.69



0.77



5545



23921



-3.56



0.085



3.64





Cold spot 2004



850



Highlands



100



20.04



23.34



0.22



364



15049



-3.38



0.233



6.23





Cold spot 1607



852



Highlands



60



10.71



11.71



0.22



576



15699



-3.85



0.162



3.27





Cold spot 1989



876



Highlands



100



15.64



16.99



0.53



3942



35587



-4.03



0.176



4.86





Cold spot 1646



972



Highlands



100



14.39



17.67



0.22



1620



16563



-3.88



0.253



5.47





Cold spot 2055



1028



Highlands



82



20.53



24.42



1.13



13247



12792



-3.07



0.048



3.00





Cold spot 1896



1128



Highlands



93



19.66



23.60



0.33



5342



7666



-3.53



0.125



3.97





Cold spot 1648



1402



Highlands



68



22.71



25.60



0.64



7080



8178



-2.97



0.058



3.57





Cold spot 2056



1826



Highlands



73



26.11



31.62



0.66



18264



8774



-3.14



0.045



3.46





Cold spot 1701



1990



Highlands



75



25.89



29.39



0.37



8682



14895



-3.62



0.104



5.36





Cold spot 1784



2268



Highlands



47



30.46



37.36



0.71



17092



12781



-3.21



0.071



4.97





Cold spot 1873



452



Maria



100



8.08



9.54



0.28



679



49722



-4.92



0.531



4.23





Cold spot 2134



462



Maria



76



8.12



9.87



0.84



4170



33526



-4.60



0.228



3.00





Cold spot 1759



474



Maria



100



9.18



9.88



0.09



113



52574



-4.89



0.698



5.06





Cold spot 1907



524



Maria



47



11.35



13.36



0.35



729



5516



-3.37



0.229



3.00





Cold spot 1678



668



Maria



89



14.29



16.29



2.45



21491



577228



-5.14



0.287



5.83