Setting Diverging Colors for a Large-Scale Hypsometric Lunar Map Based on Entropy

A hypsometric map is a type of map used to represent topographic characteristics by filling different map areas with diverging colors. The setting of appropriate diverging colors is essential for the map to reveal topographic details. When lunar real environmental exploration programs are performed, large-scale hypsometric maps with a high resolution and greater topographic detail are helpful. Compared to the situation on Earth, fewer lunar exploration objects are available, and the topographic waviness is smaller at a large scale, indicating that presenting the topographic details using traditional hypsometric map-making methods may be difficult. To solve this problem, we employed the Chang’E2 (CE2) topographic and imagery data with a resolution of 7 m and developed a new hypsometric map-making method by setting the diverging colors based on information entropy. The resulting map showed that this method is suitable for presenting the topographic details and might be useful for developing a better understanding of the environment of the lunar surface.